Goosebumps Adventure!
by Stone-Man85
Summary: A certain book must not be read on a full moon night.  Someone reads it, and now a group of kids must do what they can to undo the evil they’ve unleashed.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Goosebumps series; they are the sole property of their writer/creator, R.L. Stine. Original characters are of my own design. Also for this story, I used a lot of horror movie references. They are all property of their respectful writers, creators, and directors.**

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**Goosebumps Adventure

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**

Readers, Beware….

…You're all in for a scare.

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**Prologue

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****Transylvania**

**1947**

_The deep misty and gothic region that was known as Transylvania_ _was only something one could read about in horror stories. The forests surrounding a certain area stood high and mighty, shielding the night sky down below, creating a moonlit and eerie feeling. The dark cloudy night sky was like that of a huge ocean of darkness that swayed in the sky. The mountainous area was that of a setting from one of those old Boris Karloff movies back in the 1930s. Indeed the area was that of something from a horror film or story._

_However, at the moment, there was another scene in the forest being played out as an angry mob of one of the villagers. They were carrying pitchforks and torches; something had them riled up into a huge heated rabble. This was only proven by the huge battering ram the size of a tree trunk that a gang of villagers were carrying with them. They had all heard of something going on at the castle to where the madman, Victor Frankenstein used to reside in. They marched and yelled out in anger, swinging their pitchforks and torches as they marched towards the Frankenstein castle._

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**Inside**

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_The room was vastly huge as it was big enough to contain a lighthouse sized laboratory within it. Ancient machinery that dated back in the 1890s were placed in some key areas, not even being touched by anything. There were also walk rails hanging over them, a different one on every level reaching upward to where an opening at the ceiling was made. A fireplace that was big enough to park a Mini Cooper stood at the only entrance. But the room was not empty, save for only three individuals._

_One was near the fireplace, poking at the fire with a poker stick. It was a young man around the age of fifteen, Caucasian, slim but fit figure, dressed in brown pants with black shoes, a white button-up T-shirt, a cap, and holding in his hand, a trench coat. He also had short brown hair shown from the cap, and a look of serious thought on his face._

_Pacing back and forth all over the room was a man, Caucasian, around in his forties or fifties, with a look of seriousness on his semi-wrinkled scowled face. He was wearing black pants, a white button up shirt, with a black vest, black tie, an overcoat, and black dress shoes crusted with mud on the heels. He was wearing rimless glasses, going slightly bald with brownish gray hair, and had the look that could only belong to a horror writer that had gone into seclusion but still retained a friendly face to everyone else._

_But these two were not alone, as a certain figure sat on what appeared to be an operation table with straps and wires on it. The figure's form was slim and slender, with a figure that belonged to a fourteen year old girl. Which it could have been if the figure wasn't covered in a brown cloak and hood. However, it was clearly shown by the hands and feet as they were sticking out; the hands were small and slender, with carefully cleaned and trimmed fingernails, and the feet were dainty and the toenails were clean and trimmed as well. But the odd thing was that her hands were bandaged as well as her feet, only letting out the fingers, toes, and back heels out. Her face's silhouette was shown out of the hood, and showed she had a very pretty face with a few strands of silky red hair coming down her shoulders. She turned to her side as she looked down and saw an object of much attention._

_It was a book of unique design and function as it lay next to the girl, almost as if the girl was guarding it. The book was big enough to match the famed title book, War and Peace, in both size and thickness. The book's outer form looked like it was wrapped in dry and stretched human skin. The spine was held together by three black belts nailed into it, in order to make sure it stayed in place. The middle belt was wrapped around the whole thing, ending at the sides to where the book opened up. The book was kept locked by an eerie skull shaped lock that held the book closed there was a title part of the book that was stitched on the front of the book, and on it was the title. It appeared to be written in blood as it was an eerie and blood-chilling red. The title read as the following:_

_The Book of Goosebumps_

_The boy had gotten up from his spot and looked to the older man as he asked, "How much longer are we gonna wait for the contact, Mr. Stine?"_

_The man stopped his pacing as he turned to the young man, without a change from his face' expression, "Don't worry, John. She'll get here; she just likes to make an entrance."_

_The young man just sighed as he looked to the girl sitting at the table, and then at the book. He then took a deep sigh, as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. He then asked, just to make sure of something, "So this is it? We head over to America_ _tonight with the Book?"_

_The man nodded as his attention was turned to the window. He walked towards it and stopped as he looked outside, and nearly paled at what he saw. The villagers had gotten there in record time and were standing at the front gate. It stood straight up like a fortress wall. The villagers stood aside and allowed some of the villagers to bring up the battering ram. The man known as Mr. Stine knew that they were running out of time and needed to get out of where they were before someone took hold of the book._

_The young man, identified as John, leaned near the fireplace with his arms crossed. He looked at Mr. Stine, and then at the cloaked female. His attention was then turned to the book at her side. The book carried much importance if he had kept his eye on the book, as the girl kept a hand near it. He then sighed as he asked, "I've been wondering, Mr. Stine…if we do get to America, and if someone were to get a hold of the book….what if someone reads it?"_

_Mr. Stine's gaze was kept at the window as he continued to look at the angry villagers. It was a little observant that he didn't pay any attention to the question, but it was as clear as daylight that he heard the question. If anything caused him to flinch a little, it was the quandary of that book being read aloud. He backed away from the window slowly, and then answered in a voice filled with a calm demeanor, but with a little dread mixed in, "Then, may God have mercy on all our souls."_

"_Mercy?"_

_Mr. Stine stopped in his steps as a look of startle came on him as he heard that new voice come out of nowhere. He turned around as the voice spoke up again, "I think mercy's hardly the word to be used if that book's read aloud." Mr. Stine finally came face-to-face with the one who spoke up as John and the hooded girl looked as well. _

_Suddenly, out of nowhere between the three, and with no noise whatsoever, a very attractive woman stood in front of Mr. Stine. She appeared to be Asian, but the accent in her voice made her more American. She had long silky raven black hair that was pulled back to expose her forehead, and went down to her back. Her figure was slim but fitting for an attractive woman as she wore a very sexy dress. It was black, satin, with long sleeves that covered her hands, save for her fingers as a ring of cloth was hung around the middle finger, and off-the-shoulder, and covered her feet; it looked like a dress from Elvira's collection. But the eeriest thing about her was her ruby red eyes; they were almost like a pit leading into danger and fear._

_However, the three were a little calm around her, even from her spooky appearance. John however was a little tense whenever this woman was around; ever since she helped them with the book, he couldn't help but feel there was something about her he did trust. _

_Mr. Stine didn't seem to mind as he passed her, stating with an unfazed voice, "Oh, it's just you, Volta."_

_The woman now known as Volta_ _just walked towards the window as she looked down at the village mob. They were still trying to batter down the doors, even during the stormy evening. She let out a small smirk creep up her face as she_ _chimed, "I was beginning to lose faith after one whole year." She then turned her attention to Mr. Stine, as he helped the hooded girl down and began packing a few things. John walked up to him and the girl. Volta_ _just stated, "It's a real pity the villagers found out about your female bodyguard. Seeing as how she's the end result of a couple of grave robberies."_

_Mr. Stine merely sighed as he got a few things together as he walked over to another direction, "Yeah, we know that. Which is why we were hoping you could get us out of here."_

_However, unknown by the three, Volta had mysteriously appeared on one of the rail walkways from above them. She lightly walked around them as her shoes clicked, indicating that she was wearing high heel shoes. She swayed her hips as she walked, looking down at them, and asked when she looked away, "And where would you all go? Don't forget: your peculiar hobby in hunting and trapping the strange and unusual have made you all unwelcome in most parts of the Eastern Civilized world." _

_And then as she finished, a huge bolt of lightning erupted from outside, lighting the room for only a brief second. Had the three knew where she was and looked at her, in that brief second, half of her face had lit up, showing a horrific and demonic face hiding behind the visage of beauty that she disguised herself to be._

_Mr. Stine had finished packing and handed a bag to John, as well as the hooded girl._ _He then stated as he put his own bag on, "We'll go away, far away in America. Where no one will ever find the book." _

_John nodded as he stated, "Don't worry, after this, you won't hear from any of us ever again." He then went to the book and wrapped it up in a few rotten rags, "You won't even see this again." And then held it close to him, as if it were a life preserver. _

"_Oh no, Johnny…", Volta_ _just said, surprising the boy as he, Stine, and the girl looked to Volta. She had mysteriously appeared near them, as she lightly walked to Mr. Stine. She then tapped her fingers together as she stated to them, "Oh no. The time has come for me to collect what's mine." She then stopped as she stated, "Namely the book."_

_That caused Mr. Stine's calm demeanor to fade and one with shock as he asked, "What do you mean by that?"_

_It was then that she got fed up, and Volta_ _turned to face them as she shouted with much venom in her voice, "WHY DO YOU THINK I GAVE YOU THAT BOOK? GAVE YOU ELSA? FUNDED YOUR EXPEDITIONS?"_

_John backed away defensively, as the girl, who was probably Elsa, stood in front of both him and Mr. Stine. Under the hood, only a single eye showed while the hood covered the other. It was revealed to be a beautiful Emerald Green eye…and it was a look of pure vicious nature being directed at the woman named Volta. But Mr. Stine calmly walked from John and Elsa and stood in front of them, defending them both as he answered, "Because you said you believe we could do it. You believed we could use the book you gave us to finish the task at hand."_

_Volta's look of venomous fury then softened back to her calm demeanor as she looked at him innocently, "But I still do, Mr. R.L. Stine.", she then turned from them and back to the window as she silkily walked a few steps from it, "But now that you have completed the long hunt…", after she had said that, a huge lightning bolt shook the room, and had it lit only for a moment. Then Volta_ _spun around to face the trio as she stated with a sinister smile on her face, "…the book must now serve its true purpose."_

* * *

**Outside

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**

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**Back Inside

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**

_Volta_ _had explained to the trio her full plan for the book that they carried with them. John had a look of sheer terror as he held onto the book, in fear that Volta_ _would get her hands on it. Elsa stood by the boy's side, protecting him and the book. Now that she saw the true motive, she was more determined to protect the book and its guardian. Mr. Stine's face conveyed a calm look of shock and horror as he spoke out, "Good God! I would have burned the book, if I had known you were planning to use it for this!"_

_Volta just shrugged as she calmly walked past him, "Go ahead and try. I made sure that the book was protected by magic." She then walked towards John and Elsa, and stopped as she tapped her fingers together in delight. And with a devilish smile, she replied, "Don't waste your lives over a simple piece of parchment. I just want the book…it is the key."_

_Mr. Stine walked up but stopped a few feet from her as he stated, "I could never allow the book to be used for something as evil as what you have planned."_

_Volta_ _turned around as she seductively smirked, "I could. In fact, I'm insisting upon it." She then walked towards John and Elsa, as she went for the book. But Elsa stood in front of the boy and her; guarding John with her own life. Volta had a look of disgust on her face at this as she asked the girl with a raised eyebrow, "You would defy your creator? The one who gave you life…for a bunch of mortals?"_

_Elsa stood defiant as she spoke up in a cute voice that belonged to a fourteen year old girl, "They may be mortals…but they treat me like one of them. And that is more than enough."_

_Volta_ _snapped her fingers, and all of a sudden, a bunch of vines shot from above and wrapped themselves around Elsa. They weren't like vines, as vines were green; these vines were brown and thicker, like tree roots. Elsa struggled as much as she could, but was pulled up a little by the source of where the vines came from. It was a strange fellow in a dirty trench coat clotted in mud, and a hat to boot. The only thing that could be shown was a lone red eye, and a mouth full of yellow jagged teeth._

_Elsa struggled as much as she could but to no avail as the stranger chuckled, "Neheheheheh! You can't escape the grasp of the Crypt Creeper, Gestalt."_

_Volta then gingerly walked over to John, as she reached for him. Her fingers flexed for the book, and she would tear through the boy just to get it. John tried to back himself away, but was cornered by Volta_ _and the lab equipment. There would be no easy escape for the boy at this point in time. However, that altered in plan as Mr. Stine got in between her and John with a fire pick in his hand, and held it at Volta_ _in a threatening manner, "Stay back!"_

_He turned to John and ordered, "John, get out of here with that book. Now!" John was a little hesitant to leave Mr. Stine behind like this, even Elsa as she struggled to break free of the Crypt Creeper's grip on her. However, circumstances were put in the right direction as John had no choice and ran for the door. _

_However, when John was out of the way, Volta_ _grabbed the fire pick while Mr. Stine held onto it. She stated with a look of boredom on her face, "You can't kill me, R.L….", and then without any effort or sign of straining, she bent the pick like it was a piece of string cheese, surprising Mr. Stine as she finished by saying, "I was never mortal to begin with."_

_She then grabbed him in an embracing hold, with her hand behind his head, and her other hand on her shoulder. She gave the confused and terrified man a seductive smile as she stated, "And by the way, it's not Volta….it's Revolta." And then she opened her mouth, exposing a set of vicious and inhuman razor sharp teeth, along with her lower jaw splitting down the center, turning into a frightful pair of mandibles of some sort. She let out an inhuman screech sound as she pounced forward at Mr. Stine, sealing his fate._

_As John was about to escape, he heard the sounds of gagging and gurgling. He also heard something chewing and gnawing, as he turned around to see in shock what was happening. He couldn't see well due to the lightning, but he saw Mr. Stine shuttering as he saw Ms. Volta, now known as Revolta, do something to him. And then when she was done with whatever it was she was doing, she threw his limp and lifeless body over like it was a rag-doll._

_She then turned her attention back to John as she slowly and silkily walked towards him. Her face had returned back to normal as she licked her lips seductively as she cooed, "Oh, Johnny…I want my book…" John back away with his back still turned to the door. He tried to fidget with the door, only to realize to his horror; it was locked as Revolta walked towards him._

_But just before she could get a hold of him, they heard a thumping sound as they turned around. Elsa was back on the ground, a few tears in her cloak, but nothing much else. The tears in the cloak revealed her whole body was bandaged up, but were coming a little loose due to the struggle she had. In her right hand was a bundle of the vines that the Crypt Creeper had, which he was still attached to as he struggled to break free of her grasp. And then, with a show of amazing strength, she lifted him up in the air by his vines, and began to swing him around like a huge bolo. John and Revolta watched this, but Revolta watched in horror at this action as Elsa was heading right for her. And then with one last swing, Elsa threw the Crypt Creeper at Revolta…right into the fireplace as it erupted with a huge blast._

_After that, Elsa went for Mr. Stine's limp body, and picked him up, holding him in her arms with ease. She knew full well that the man who had been like a father to her had been taken out of this life. But she just couldn't leave him here like this; neither could she leave John's side now more than ever. She went to him and saw he was still recovering from what he saw, but she snapped him out of it as she lightly shouted, "John! We have to go! Now!"_

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**Outside

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**

_The villagers were running up a stairway, heading straight to where they knew where the people were. Their torches and pitchforks looked even more dangerous than before. However, had they notice it, they would have known that they were going the wrong way for the culprits._

_Back down on the ground, two wooden doors busted outward, being shattered to driftwood. Where the doors once stood, Elsa was there, still holding on to Mr. Stine's body, and putting her foot down from a kick. She led the way as she, and John got out. John was still holding on to the book that the monster Revolta had wanted so badly, and now more than ever, wouldn't let it out of his sight. _

_The two looked around to see if there was anywhere they could hide or run to. But then John spotted something that might have been of some use to them. A raggedy old and abandoned windmill on the edge of a canyon cliff that separated the mountainside and led a half a mile down. John knew it was a dead end of some sort, but it was the only chance that they had. He tugged Elsa by her arm and pointed to the windmill, "There! We can escape that way!"_

_Not wishing to argue due to the nature of the situation they were in, she nodded, "Okay, let's go, John." And with that, they ran towards the lighthouse. However, as they did, they didn't notice one of the villagers had spotted them. All he could see was the limp form held in the girl's arms and only could deduce the worst of it._

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**Back in the Lab

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**

_The fire roared some as what appeared to be the burning bodies of the two monsters that Elsa had dealt with. However, that changed as the Crypt Creeper's yelping form was thrown out of the fire. He stopped, dropped, and rolled a frenzy as the fires nearly baked him like a hot potato. Then following him, a smoldering form as it walked out of the fire. It was none other than Revolta, as her fires were put out instantly; her face being that of a burnt skull with a few skin and hair still on there. _

_However, that began to change as the skin and her dress were healing back like her injuries were nothing. She stood there, completely healed up and looking back the way she was, with a blank look on her face. She looked around and saw that the children and Mr. Stine's body was missing. She sighed at this even as she muttered, "I loathe children." _

_The Crypt Creeper got back up as it brushed itself; the coat burnt off revealing what he or it was. It was a creature composed of a dirt brown pelvis and upper human torso, with a bunch of root vines entangled together forming a crude set of arms and legs, and a head with a lone red eye and mouth full of yellow jagged teeth. He muttered, "M-Mistress! They've escaped!" However, his attention was turned to his mistress' shadow on the wall as he saw it was changing shape. _

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**Outside

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**

_John and Elsa had reached the windmill and were going in to the front door. However, they also took notice of the crowd chasing after them, as they saw that the villagers were getting closer. The villagers had gained some great distance at them, but were a little slow as the two kids got inside the windmill._

_The two searched around, trying to find a way out on the other side. They were hoping that there was a stairwell that led down the canyon, but as they looked around, there was no back door. Nor was there any indication that there was a way out. All they saw was a cluster of Vodka bottles and Absinthe, and with all those torches out there, this made the windmill a very dangerous place to be in. _

_John could only say one thing at the time as he looked in surprise as to how many bottles there were, "What is this place, a windmill or a saloon?" He shook his head as he led Elsa up the stairs, knocking down Vodka or Absinthe bottles down as they broke and spilt their contents on the wooden floor and stairway. _

_Outside, the villagers chanted for the two kids to come out with the man and face their doom with some dignity. They believed the strangers had brought with them some great evil. And that the only way to rid themselves of it was to kill the three. One of the villagers grew impatient at this whole thing and threw a torch at the windmill. The torch rolled a little as it hit the exposed wood, and then it caught fire. The flame spread and went into the house, touching the exposed Vodka and Absinthe. Now everyone knew that Vodka and Absinthe were both ninety percent alcohol, and that it was pretty flammable._

_As the alcohol was touched, the fire grew even worse, going for the other bottles. A huge explosion erupted as everyone cheered on the windmill burning, and then shouted in protest as they saw someone come out of the top of the windmill. Elsa and John had made it to the top and saw the villagers down below; to them they looked like angry ants, wanting something to eat or attack. The two kids looked around, seeing that there wasn't a way out of this as they saw the windmills' sails catch on fire._

_Just then, the villagers' attention was brought elsewhere behind them as they heard the most inhuman screeching roar in their lives. Back at the Frankenstein castle, something busted out of the roof at blinding speed. The villagers could only make it out to be something with a female torso, a huge snake's tail with spikes on it as the lower torso, and a huge pair of razor edged bat-like wings that spanned fifteen feet. They saw the monstrous form glide through the foggy and stormy night sky, heading straight for their direction._

_One of the villagers looked out in horror as the villager realized what it was, "It's the monster-witch, Revolta!" After that name was heard, all anyone could do was scream or yell in terror as they all ran away from the flaming windmill and headed for the forest. _

_The two kids looked around, hoping to find some way out of all this. However, all they could do was turn to each other as they heard the windmill giving way. Then the windmill toppled backwards, into the canyon, carrying with it the still form of Mr. Stine, and the two screaming kids as the flaming windmill fell into the dark chasm, disappearing into the darkness._

_At the flaming debris to where the windmill stood, Revolta, now back in her human form, floated downward on the ground. She gingerly walked forward, attempting to find any trace of her book, but to no avail. She walked over to where the windmill fell and saw only a foggy darkness below. She realized that the two had gotten away...gotten away with the one artifact that would have helped her rule the world._

**Next Chapter: New Girl in Town**


	2. New Girl in Town

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

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**Chapter 1: New Girl in Town

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****Sixty Years Later…**

**Now**

**United States**

In the small yet sprawled out community of Amityville, located near the eastern shore of the US, all were asleep as it was night. The town of Amityville was a town built during the Salem Witch Trials, and had always been famed for a few hauntings, which weren't real. Though it seemed more like a city than a town, considering it had a huge mall, three movie theatres, and a vast museum that looked like it belonged to Detroit. A niche community, that above all else, took traditions in Halloween very seriously, as it was Amityville's most well-celebrated holiday. But this wasn't where the story began.

In a small neighborhood that dwelled within Amityville, named Wood Cliffs, was where the story began at. There was a house in the neighborhood, a Victorian house so to speak, which had a For Sale sign taken down, considering it was just bought. Victorian houses were built in the US and Canada and were very popularized in the Victorian era. This house was three stories high with a rounded tower, a wraparound porch and there was great attention paid to detail. This house had curved glass windows in the tower. The features shown on the house were the rounded tower, a verandah or roof opened porch, bay windows and dormers.

* * *

**Inside**

In the second floor and in one of the rooms down the hallway, someone was sleeping. The room was painted in dark blue, and had been quickly covered in rock n' roll and Halloween posters. There was a desk near the doorway with a black Dell computer set up to it, with a web cam, speakers, and a bendable magnifying glass lamp bolted down to the desk. However, there were a few boxes that haven't been unpacked yet, and a bookcase that wasn't filled with books yet. The window was covered in shadows of a twisted tree branch, as the wind blew it to make eerie sounds.

The two-door mirror closet was halfway opened, revealing dark clothing; there was black clothing, some were black and red, and a few accessories with silver and/or pewter, that were often Egyptian, Christian crosses, and a few Wiccan symbols. There were a few elaborate gowns, corsets, veils, hobble skirts, black and red horizontal striped sweaters and shirts, neck corsets, combat books and laced high heel boots, but a few black high heel shoes. This was definitely the room of a Goth girl.

Even the bed looked a little scary; the whole bed frame was steel, and the blankets and bed sheets were black. The pillows on the other hand, were in sheets that had a cheetah coat design on them. On the bed, someone was sleeping soundly and covered in the blankets. Despite the covers, there was a petite figure under them as they slept soundly. However, that changed as the closed closet door began to slowly slide open.

For a moment, something in the closet began to stir around the clothing. Something peered through it, looking at the sleeping from on the bed. The person stirred in their sleep, letting out a small moan of exhaustion. And then the stirring stopped, as whatever in the closet lightly heaved in its breathing. The closet door slightly creaked open, and then slowly out of the shadowed closet, stepped something covered in a red hooded cloak that concealed most of its body. The figure was four feet tall due to its height, but the only distinguishing features besides the cloak, hood, and height, were the hands that came out. The hands were completely covered in a dark brown fur, and its fingers and thumbs were nothing more than sharp bony claws.

The figure moved slowly towards the side of the bed as it went for its prey. As it reached the side, it finally looked over at its victim as it revealed itself…or herself. The person sleeping in the bed was in fact a fifteen year old girl; her skin was pale white, her figure was fit and lovely for a girl her age, her hair was slightly spiky but limp as she had bangs that went down to reach her neck, and a length of hair that reached down her shoulder blades. Although she was covered in black blankets, it was revealed that she was wearing a black lace nightgown.

The creature looked down at the girl and saw she looked as peaceful as a dead person. It slowly flexed its clawed digits as it slowly reached for her. Then, as the creature's claws came close to the girl's face, the girl yawned, "Knock it off, Max. I heard you in the closet a while ago."

The figure stopped as it slouched over and sighed in disappointment. It then reached for its hood and pulled it back, revealing a young Caucasian boy, around eight years old, with short and messy brown hair, and blue eyes. The boy, named Max, pouted as he asked, "Aw, man. How'd you know it was me, Courtney?"

The girl named Courtney, opened her eyes to reveal them to be hauntingly beautiful lavender, and sat up from her bed. She then turned to her brother with a smock smile and answered, "Two ways, Max. One: I taught you everything you need to know about scaring people." She then leaned in towards him, and smirked, "And two…", she surprised him as she pulled him in and gave him a playful noogie as Max laughed, "…I'm your big sister; we have telepathy that warns us when our smaller siblings are sneaking up on us."

After their little playful time, Courtney let her little brother go. She then looked at him and stated, "Now go to bed, Max. Even night stalkers need their sleep."

Max whined a little, "Awww, do I have to? I was hoping we could stay up a little longer and you could tell me some ghost stories."

Courtney shook her head as she stated with a raised eyebrow, "Not tonight, Max. We've got school tomorrow, and you know what happened the last time I told you one of my stories."

Max just growled and huffed as he walked out the door, "Okay. Good night, Sis.", and closed the door.

Courtney just stretched as she plopped back on her bed. She drew the covers back on her as she yawned, "Good night, Squirt.", and then fell fast asleep as she went back to her dreams. Little did she know that at that very moment as she slumbered, someone was watching her.

Outside, stood a fellow dressed in a black trench coat and hat, and holding a cane in his right hand, with a silver skull handle. It was only for a short while, but then he walked off, pretty sure of something that he made of great deal.

* * *

**Morning

* * *

**

In the kitchen, which was pretty neat and clean, someone was making breakfast, while max ate a bowl of Reese's Pops. He was dressed in a black sweat shirt with green trim, khaki pants and white and blue sneakers. Someone was making scrambled eggs on the stove and calling out for Courtney, "Courtney, Honey! Are you ready yet, dear? I'm making scrambled eggs for breakfast! Just the way you like it!"

She was a lady, in her late thirties, with long brown hair that went down to her back and tied in a braid, Caucasian, slim figure of a woman her age. She had a friendly face with a touch of naïveté, with beautiful lavender eyes. She was wearing brown garden sandals, blue jeans, and a white blouse with a brown vest on. Her name was Diana Keller, the mother of Max and Courtney Keller.

She tried once more as she shouted, "Courtney, Dear! Breakfast is ready!"

"I'm coming, Mom!", Courtney called out as she came down from the stairs. She entered the kitchen and both Mrs. Keller and Max saw what she was wearing.

She was wearing a black mini-shirt with the end cut to resemble batwings, with a rhinestone-encrusted belt that was slouched on one side, a black sweatshirt that exposed her bellybutton and didn't cover her right shoulder horizontal black, and a white striped spaghetti strap shirt underneath the sweater. She was also wearing sheer black stockings with combat boots. And she also had a small chain necklace around her neck with a black choker with a little bat decoration. Her hair had also been done as there were purple high lights in her bangs, and a skull barrette that held her hair that was swept to the right side of her hair. She also had on black lipstick, eyeliner, and black nail polish.

Max just shrugged at this as he went back to his breakfast as Courtney sat down with him. Their mother just sighed as she placed her daughter's breakfast in front of her. Courtney sighed as she knew what was coming next as her mother asked, "Courtney? Honey? I know it's been kind of tough since your father died, but do you have to dress like that every day now?"

Courtney just sighed as she replied, "Would you prefer me to wear a lie or the truth about the way I dress?"

Her mother shook her head as she stated, "No, I mean, well…well what about that outfit I bought for you?"

Courtney knew what she was talking about and cringed. What her mother had gotten for her was a green sweatshirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Courtney looked exasperated as she spoke her mind, "Yuck, Mom. Sorry but that stuff's for girls who think their better than most kids at school." Her mom raised an eyebrow as Courtney explained, "You know, those snobbish cheerleaders or popular girls who treat everyone else like human doormats." She stopped as she took a sip from a glass of orange juice, "I'm sorry but that's just not who I am."

Her mother sighed as she sat down next to her only daughter. She then placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she stated, "I know, Courtney I know. But you know, you might make more friends if you didn't try making yourself an outcast."

Courtney sighed as she stated, "I hate to tell you, Mom. But I didn't have friends at my old school, so that means I'm not gonna have friends at this school. Okay?" She sighed as she knew this was gonna happen. She also knew what was coming next as her mother took a sip of coffee to wet her whistle.

Their mother then stated, "Look, I know that it's awkward for the both of you to be dropped into a new school, especially since your father died in the car crash." She then regretted what she said as her daughter stopped eating. She took the news like her pet cat had just died. Max looked like the exact same way, and she beat herself on the head for bringing that up. ever since their father died, Courtney had started dressing into Goth, been retreating in stuff in the Occult, and playing scary pranks at her school.

She sighed as she apologized and tried again, "Okay, aside from dressing the way you do, the other thing, and this semester's already started for you both." She then gave the two a motherly smile, "Just try to give it some time. I know you both are gonna make a whole lot of friends. Especially you, Courtney."

Courtney just sarcastically smiled as she got up, "Yeah, right.", and left to get her stuff ready for the school year.

But her mother asked, "Oh, by the way, Honey. Are you sure you want to get a part-time job?"

Courtney stopped in her tracks as she turned around to face her mother, "Mom, it's just you, me, and Max. You can't support us all by yourself." She then went to the refrigerator and took off a flyer she had found in the mail. It read the following with a little Jack O'Lantern logo on it.

STRANGER'S HALLOWEEN AND ANTIQUE STORE

WHERE HERE, EVERY DAY IS HALLOWEEN

HELP WANTED

Courtney then stated, "This place would be perfect for me, Mom. I mean, this is sort of an opportunity of a lifetime to work at a Halloween store that's open all year long."

Her mother sighed as she gave her a defeated smile, "Okay, just make sure their hours are flexible. Now go get ready and I'll drop you and your brother to school." Courtney gave her mother a smile as she went upstairs to get her stuff ready for the first day at her new high school.

* * *

**Amityville Junior High

* * *

**

The school was just like any other high school; a relic from the 1950s. With its six story window doorway and impressive six story height, it would have passed on as a college to anyone else. The school was constantly decorated with Halloween decoration, from the inside and the outside. Teens of all shapes and sizes were entering the school, just as the late bell rang. And Courtney was one of the many that went in there.

She carried with her a black book bag with a few Wiccan and Glyph symbols that had all her books on her. She walked down the hallway, with an Edgar Allen Poe clutched to her chest. Even when she walked down the hallway, no one seemed to notice as they went to their lockers, to the bathroom to freshen up, or any of that stuff. However, there were kids that looked at her with much disgust or looks that said 'You Don't Belong Here!'. But Courtney didn't care; in fact she could care less about what they thought of her. She was satisfied if it was just her and her brother.

'Well, my brother's gonna make tons of friends at his school.', she thought as she went to her locker. She put in her combination and opened it; revealing inside a few gothic decorations in it as she went for her books. She got what she needed, and put them in her book bag. But just when she was about to close her locker and leave, something, or rather someone, had caught her attention.

Opening one of his lockers and putting stuff in and taking stuff out, was a boy her age. He was a fifteen year old Caucasian boy, with lightly tanned skin, with short but tussled Dark Brown hair with a surfer hairstyle, and brown eyes. He was wearing blue jeans with the knee sections ripped and torn, a green T-shirt with black trim on his collar and sleeves, a black jacket tied around his waist, New Balance black and white sneakers, and had a brown Book bag over his left shoulder.

She had seen the boy in her English class, seeing as how she sat in front of him in the back row. They didn't really talk, nor did they even know each other, but she felt that in some way, he was just like her. She had wanted to tear her eyes away from him, but she couldn't; she was compelled to look at him. And that's when a couple of guys dressed in black, white, and orange jerseys walked up to him. They roughly shoved him into his locker pretty hard as the brown haired boy groaned in pain.

One of the jocks, a muscular fellow with short black hair and a vicious smirk, walked up to the boy. He was only two centimeters taller than the brown haired boy. The big fellow crossed his arms as he played fun with the boy, "Hey, Justin."

The boy named Justin turned the other way as he grunted, "Hey, Josh. Don't you have some tackle dummy to pulverize?"

Josh made a sharp look at Justin as he cracked his knuckles, "Not today, but you're pretty tempting for our Nimrod football practice." He then leaned on the locker as he smirked, "That is if you give me something to change my mind."

Justin sighed as he asked, "Okay, Josh, what do you need?" Josh threatened the boy for a pen, and Justin simply shrugged, "Yeah, okay." He took his book bag and rummaged around in it to find a pen. He had found one; a silver pen with a blue steel tip on both ends. Courtney was watching the whole thing and felt pretty disgusted at the fact that these jocks were pushing this guy around just for a pen. And what made her even sicker was the boy wasn't even fighting them back, even though he was outmatched.

Josh snatched it away as he pompously smirked at Justin, "Thanks a lot, Loser." In a show of triumph, he took the pen and clicked it right in front of Justin. However, as he did that, he started to spasm as the pen made a violent humming sound. And it was pretty evident that the jock, Josh, was being shocked. Quickly, he let go of the pen as Justin caught it and put it back in his pen.

Justin just smirked and chuckled as he looked at the recovering Josh, "The Shock Pen; it'll put a shock to your limited system." However, he paled as he saw Josh snarl at him, along with his buddies as they cracked their knuckles. Justin nervously smiled at them, hoping for a way of forgiveness. However, that didn't come out well as Josh snarled, "Guys. It's Nerd-bashing time!"

Justin closed his locker and sprinted towards Courtney's direction as the Jocks, led by Josh, ran after him. Courtney shrunk back to her locker as she used the locker door to shield herself from the boy's gaze. It was just when the jocks were running by; she slammed her door into Josh's face, causing him to fall flat on his back in pain. The jocks stopped as they saw their leader not getting up, but holding his nose and groaning out loud in pain. The jocks helped their leader up, and completely forgot all about Justin as they were getting him to the infirmary.

Courtney just huffed as she closed her locker, and turned just nearly to come face-to-face with the boy, Justin. She gasped a little and looked at him with complete surprise. Justin, taking notice that she scared the poor girl, apologized, "Oh, sorry about that. I just wanted to thank you."

Courtney looked at him a little confused, "For what?"

Justin made a small scoff laugh as he explained, "Well, for that save just a few minutes ago. But seriously though, Priscilla's probably gonna gut you later on."

Courtney asked, not very interested in it though, "Priscilla?"

Justin replied while putting his backpack on, "Josh's girlfriend. The only other predator in this school that prey's on the weak and sickly."

Courtney just grabbed her backpack and simply replied, without caring, "Well, if she's that meathead's girlfriend, then I don't have anything to worry about. She'll obviously be a bigger meathead than that idiot." She then closed her locker as she stated, "Well, thank you for the heads up, but I can handle myself." And with that, she left Justin there, walking away to her class.

Justin looked at her retreating form as he put his hands on his hips, and shook his head, "She's definitely new here."

* * *

**Lunchtime**

All the students were getting their lunches from the serving area, while most of them sat down with the lunches they did bring. Courtney had just gotten out of line with her lunch in tray and sat down, in an empty table. She didn't really sit next to anyone, but to her it was okay; no one ever did sit with her, even at her old school. She took out a book entitled, Edgar Allen Poe's the Raven, opened it, and read as she ate.

It was while she ate, someone had made an appearance into the cafeteria. A sixteen-year-old Caucasian girl with semi-curly brown hair, slim but slender figure, and beautiful brown eyes. She was dressed in a green T-shirt, brown sweat jacket, blue bell jeans, and brown sneakers. She was followed by two other girls; one was a centimeter shorter than the brown haired girl and had long blonde hair in a ponytail. The other girl had short red hair and dressed like a cheerleader.

As they were walking in, the speaker phone was sounding off. As it did, a male voice spoke up, announcing current events: _ATTENTION STUDENTS. THIS SI PRINCIPAL MCKIBBLE REMINDING YOU THAT TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO CAST YOU BALLOTS FOR THIS YEAR'S PUMPKIN QUEEN. REMEMBER, YOUR VOTE COUNTS._ And then it stopped as the trio of girls walked straight to the Jocks' table.

The blonde haired girl looked to the brown haired girl and nearly squealed, "You're definitely gonna win, Priscilla." The redhead nodded, placing a hand on Priscilla's shoulder, "Don't worry. You can't lose." The blonde nodded as they made their way closer to the Jocks' table, "Good luck, Priscilla."

Priscilla smugly smiled in a stuck-up kind of way, and replied, "Relax, girls; I don't need luck." She then saw who she was looking for; the black haired jock, Josh. She got behind him and hugged him, "Hello, my big grizzly bear." She then heard him wince a little as she let go. She sat down next to him and saw that his nose had been bandaged, and she looked at him with inflated concern, "Josh? What happened?"

Josh answered, in a nasally voice due to his nose, "Some crazy Goth girl slammed her locker door into it. And I was doing nothing."

Priscilla frowned in anger at this little predicament. Not only was her boyfriend's nose supposedly broken, but someone had the gall to do it at all. She looked at her BF and asked, "Which Goth girl was it, Teddy Poo?"

Josh looked around the cafeteria, hoping to have a glimpse at who it was. He looked around pretty carefully, trying to pick her out, but then she caught his eyes as he pointed to her, "That's her right there; the living-dead reject. The new girl that came in a week ago." The other jocks nodded in agreement, to confirm what their leader was saying was true.

Priscilla looked at the new girl like she was trying to kill her with a stare. She recognized her as the girl who sat in front of that loser, Seyvont in their English class. No one dared mess with her boyfriend; not even so much as to break something of his. She got up and headed straight for the girl's table planning to scratch her eyes out.

Courtney was just sitting there reading and eating, that is until she saw that a shadow had crept up at her. She looked up and saw that it was the same boy that she had unintentionally helped out. She shook her head, thinking that the boy might be getting a crush on him, or worse thought she had made a friend. She sighed out of frustration as she asked him, "What do you want?"

Justin let a half smile out as he answered, "Well, first off, my name's Justin. Justin Seyvont." He then walked over to the other side of the table she was sitting at and set his tray down as he sat down, "And secondly, I thought you might want the company."

Courtney just scoffed as she just set her book down and looked at him like he had grown a third arm. She then replied, "Look. I thought what you did to that Jock was pretty hilarious and all, but don't be getting any ideas about us. Okay?"

Justin looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a perplexed look on his face. He then inquired, "What ideas? Aside from the one saying that this girl is pretty cool, for an outcast." He then waved his hands in front of himself in defense, "I just thought you might be a little lonely over here. All by yourself and only reading…", he stopped as he looked at the book and became intrigued with the title. He then looked to her and asked, "You read Poe's work?"

Courtney wasn't in the mood to talk about anything, but then she replied, "Yeah, I do. I read anything with a horror/thriller theme." It was during their little talk that Courtney forgot about how annoyed she was having someone around. She then told him about how she thought of E. A. Poe was a seminal figure in horror literature. That he was a master at creating the intense atmosphere of poetic dread.

Justin was starting get pulled in as he asked, "And what about George A. Romero? What do you think about his work?" It was then that he saw her nearly gasp and blush at that name. It was then that he got the wrong idea, but then it was cleared up as Courtney started to speak again.

"I absolutely love his work.", Courtney depicted as she explained, "He's basically the father of all zombie movies. His depiction of a post-apocalyptic world where the dead roam the earth and pick at the survivors is something that most modern Horror writers/directors learn from and adapt their work to. His very workings are in some cases the highlight of most Fangoria or other horror conventions."

Justin was fairly impressed by her as he honestly stated, "Wow, all I was gonna say is that, in his movies, when the zombies pull their victims apart in his movies, it's so amazingly lifelike. I mean I nearly lost my lunch when I saw Day of the Dead, and Land of the Dead."

Courtney giggled at his reaction to that, but then looked at him smiling at her. It felt a little uneasy as her cheeks suddenly began to feel a little warm at this. She then asked, feeling a little weirded out, "What? What is it?"

Justin shook his head as he stated, "It's nothing. It's just the first time, since you came here, that you honestly laughed or smiled." Courtney raised an eyebrow as she let him explained, "You're always trying to avoid everyone like the plague, and don't even smile at all. Not even during English class."

Courtney was a little amazed by that, seeing as how he knew that she was in one of his classes. Mostly everyone just ignored her or didn't even care. But this guy took notice of her during her entire class. She wanted to be sure about it, so she asked, "You mean…you noticed me in your class?"

Justin just nodded as he stated, "Yeah, I mean you sit right in front of me. But most of the time, no one ever called out your name or anything." He then cleared his throat as he stated, "Speaking of which, I never really did catch your name."

Courtney berated herself as she shook her head. She then nodded, "Sorry about that. My name's Courtney. Courtney 'McRaven' Keller."

Justin looked at that and asked, "Courtney McRaven Keller? Interesting name; no offense but your middle name sounds like something from the Salem Witch Trials."

Courtney lightly chuckled as she explained, "It was my mother's maiden name." She then shook her head as she mockingly stated, "My mom said that she and I are descended from a family of Wiccans; people who, like witches, could in tune with nature's powers to heal others."

Justin was fairly impressed as he decided to sell in Courtney's interest, "Well then, Courtney. Seeing that you're new in town, I thought you might be interested…"

"Hello, Seyvont."

The two stopped their little conversation as they turned to see who it was that was talking to them. Justin groaned as he saw who it was; little miss perfect Priscilla Wright, Josh Bowden's girlfriend. He sighed as he stated, "Hello, Priscilla, what brings such a dainty young and dangerous flower to this humble table?"

Priscilla just gave him a stink-eye as she stated, "This isn't your concern, Junkyard Dog." She glared daggers at Courtney as she growled, "I'm just here for the Halloween reject." Courtney looked a little confused as she was trying to figure out what this crazy stuck-up snob was talking about. It was then that Priscilla stated, "Don't think I don't know what you did to my boyfriend's nose."

It was then that Justin stated, "Well, to tell you the truth, Priscilla…that was an improvement." Priscilla glared daggers at the boy, but then he made another quick sarcastic reply, "Oh, and by the way…Junkyard Dog and Halloween Reject? Man, for a popular cheerleader, that almost makes you clever. Now doesn't it?"

Priscilla snarled at him as she shouted, "Shut up, Seyvont!"

He looked at her, not feeling threatened as he asked her, "Or what? You'll cheer me to death?" He then smiled, "Of course I'd feel pretty intimidated right now. If I didn't know that you make excuses for Swim Class on the fact that you've got an allergy to Chlorine."

That was the last straw, as Priscilla finally lost it as she shouted to him, "I DON'T! One dip in that pool and my bottle-brunette hair would turn green!" She then stopped as she realized what she had just said. She looked around, seeing a few kids snicker at this turn of events, or others trying to stay in a state of non-realization of the juicy gossip that they obtained today. Priscilla on the other hand, looked at the two with a seething anger.

She pointed to them and growled through gritted teeth, "I'm gonna get you. I don't know when, how, or where…but I'm gonna get you both." And with that said, the girl walked away, as fast as she could.

Justin turned back to Courtney as she had a look of pure rapture at that snobby girl's expense. It was after she had a few giggles or so, she asked him, "So was that your way of repaying me for slamming that Jock's nose?"

Justin shook his head in a negative as he answered, "Not really. What I was hoping to offer is a trip to Amityville's own Halloween and Antique store." He explained to her that the store not only functioned as a place to get great Halloween costumes, decorations, or any other Halloween party favors, but it also was an Antique store selling Occult artifacts, books, and anything else that had to deal with the paranormal or supernatural.

Courtney simply replied, "Yeah, I know…I'm gonna be applying for a job there."

Justin was actually surprised by that as he smiled, "Really? Well, I guess I'll be doing you a favor. Not only by giving you a tour, but also getting to your job interview on time."

Courtney raised an eyebrow as she asked, "I thought you were paying back a debt?"

Justin shrugged, "Well, it's a two-part repay." After that, the two just laughed for a while, just simply enjoying the company. For the two teen outsiders, this was a brand new start for each other. However, it was a special start for Courtney; for she didn't realize it, but she had made her first new friend in her whole teenage life.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Halloween Store, the Owner, and the Book**


	3. The Store, the Owner, and the Book

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

**Chapter 2: The Halloween Store, the Owner, and the Book**

**After School**

The school doors busted open as all the teens ran out of the school. They were all excited to either go to the movies, go on dates, hanging out at the mall, or whatever they did to kill time or keep themselves from doing their homework. All the teens ran out to bikes or to their cars, trucks, or vans. However, one teen in particular walked out of the school with a Poe book clutched to her chest. It was Courtney as she squeezed through the teenage crowd, trying to get through them and had successfully gotten through. She had gotten to her locker and was now wearing a black hoodie jacket with strap sleeves, and a white skeleton-pipe ribbed design on the front. After she had gotten through, she was now looking around for her supposed ride to the Halloween Store.

However, in truth, she felt a little uneasy about having someone she had only talked to a few hours ago take her someplace. But Justin seemed like a nice person; a bit sarcastic and smart-mouthed, but a good person nonetheless. However, she also knew that her family would probably have to move a lot sooner if her mom's job didn't work out. 'That's why…that's why having a friend just seems so hard for me', she thought to herself as she walked down the school's patio stairway.

It was when that she was halfway down the stairs that she saw him. Justin was sitting on the school steps, wearing his black jacket, and tapping his foot in waiting for Courtney. Courtney stood there before he had the chance to notice her. She didn't know what to do about this situation; she had never had anyone, aside from her parents waiting for her. She mentally shouted in her head, 'Oh, what am I gonna do? Oh, what am I gonna do?', then, an idea snapped into her brain as she thought, 'I know what I'll do. I'll just sneak back into the school and just go out on one of the side exits.' She then slowly walked backwards and turned around to walk back to the school.

Justin had gotten a little impatient and got up. He began to stretch out his back as he groaned, "Argh! She sure picked a lousy time to do her make-up." He then began to twist his back to loosen it up; that was when he saw Courtney's retreating form. He shouted to her, causing her to freeze-stop in her tracks, "Hey, Courtney! School's over; my vehicle's parked off school property."

Courtney froze still and cringed, seeing as how she was caught. She wanted to run away in order to try and not hurt his feelings, but running away as he had offered to take her to the Halloween store was still rude. She took a deep breath, let it out, and turned around to walk over to him, "I'm sorry, Justin. I didn't see you there…"

Justin held his hands in front of him as he stated, "Look, Courtney. I'm not stupid; it was pretty obvious that you were trying to avoid me altogether."

Courtney cursed herself, seeing that he saw what her real intention. In truth, she didn't want to ditch him; the fact was she felt uncomfortable about making friends. But during lunch, he had been so nice to her, that she felt this was taking advantage of him. So she shifted her book from her chest as she held it to her right side, and looked at him. She then sighed and stated, "I'm really sorry about that, but…well…it's just that, you really don't have to…"

"Drive you to the store?", Justin asked as he saw she was struggling with her sentence. She shyly looked away from him as she nodded, but he just smirked as he stated, "Well, I want to, Courtney." He then sighed as he placed a hand on her shoulder as he stated, "Look, you don't owe me anything. I want to help out because want to." He then took his hand off her shoulder and then took her free hand into his and brought them up to eyelevel. This caused her to look at him eye to eye as he asked, "So I'm asking you, Courtney McRaven Keller….will you allow me to take you to the Halloween Store?"

Courtney looked at him, a little embarrassed about the whole scene in front of them both. The way he was asking her, seemed like some cheesy scene or pickup line that she saw on one of those Romance movies that her mom had rented for her and her brother. However, she could tell he was honest in wanting to take her to the store. Plus she really didn't know a whole lot about the town, and he was willing to give her some kind of tour. She sighed a little in defeat, and smiled at him, replying, "Okay, take me there."

Justin smirked as he stated, "Well then, Ms. Keller…your chariot awaits." And then walked towards a couple of rundown buildings, and allowed her to follow him.

**A Few Minutes Later**

The two teens walked some distance near to where they were walking. They had walked past school grounds and were walking behind a few alleyways. Courtney felt a little uneasy as they walked down the alleys. She was a little afraid that she had trusted him too soon; like he was setting her up to get her alone. She clutched her book bag, but held her E. A. Poe book tightly in her hand, in the hopes of using it as a clobbering weapon. It was when they had rounded the next corner that Justin spotted it. There was a large object, around the size of a 626 Mazda, covered in a white Car cover.

He turned around and smirked to Courtney, "Well, we're here…"

…and nearly got slugged in the face by Courtney's book, as he stepped back. Courtney held her book at the ready, abut to swing it into his face as she nearly shouted, "Okay, buddy! Just back off!"

Justin held his hands in defense as he stated, "Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! Take it easy; I'm not trying anything on you."

Courtney calmed down a little, but still held on to the book like there was no tomorrow. She then chilled a little as she replied, "Well, I'm not the one who's leading a girl in an alleyway. Probably in the hopes of…"

It was just before she finished that last sentence; Justin started to laugh at this scene. He was laughing so hard, that he was holding his sides in agony as Courtney looked at him with much confusion. Courtney didn't know whether to laugh along with him, or just slam him silly with her book. She then got fed up with it as she asked with frustration in her voice, "What's so funny?"

Justin had finally calmed down as he wiped a tear from his eye. He then answered her as he finished laughing, "I'm sorry…it's just that with you flipping out over that…it was just plain old hilarious." Courtney looked at him even more confused as he replied, "Of course, it was kind of funny, seeing that you thought I was that kind of guy."

Courtney then held her book to her chest as she replied in an embarrassed tone, "Well, we were walking down these alleyways for a while. I just thought…well, you know…"

Justin shook his head as he signaled her over to the white car cover. He then stated, "Sorry about all that. It's just that this thing isn't allowed on school grounds. Plus, I've gotta be careful in case Josh finds it."

Courtney looked at the strange car covered item. It was clearly obvious that there was some kind of vehicle, but the design didn't seem to look like a car of any. She then looked to Justin as she asked, "So, what exactly is this thing?"

Justin smirked as he reached for the sheet, and then pulled it off to reveal what was under it. It was a white Beach dune buggy; the kind that President George Bush was seen riding once. However, its size indicated that it was the height and length of a 626 Mazda, with a white and black paintjob. It had large and wide wheels, a roof with a storage bin over the driver and passenger seats, which had five seats with seatbelts like that of a Mazda, rear view mirrors, two front headlights posted on the hood of the vehicle, and four on the roof of the car.

It was pretty impressive if Courtney had seen other dune buggies. But she also knew how fast they cold do with their different sizes than other cars had. She looked at Justin's face, hoping to see some form or other that this was a huge joke. However, there was on indication on his face or body language that this was a joke. When she didn't see any indication that it was a joke, she asked in worry, "Please tell me this is a poor attempt for you being funny?"

Justin shook his head as he leaned on the Dune Buggy's roof frame, "Sorry, but look. If this was a joke, wouldn't I have done or said something a little funnier than this?" It was then that he looked and saw her uneasiness as he strapped his back on the roof's storage bin. He then reassured her, "Relax, he's sturdier than he looks. And his speed is controllable, so you don't have to worry about us crashing. The engine won't also overload on us; I made sure of that when I built it from scratch."

Courtney looked at him, with an impressed state of shock, as she asked him to confirm what he said, "You built this? All by yourself?" He nodded at that response as he explained to her that he had scavenged some parts from the local junkyard. He found all the components he needed there: the chassis, engine, tires, steering wheel, and axles. He even contrsructed the chassis himself, which created a special, customized vehicle. He also stated that the other parts were salvaged from old Army buggies. Courtney felt a little impressed as she stated out loud, "I didn't know you were this…"

Justin raised an eyebrow as he answered for her, "…gifted in mechanics?"

Courtney just smirked as she put her book in her book bag and placed it in the storage bin. She then got into the passanger's seat as she asked, "Quick whit, and a mechanic at heart? I'm surrpsied no one's asked you for a job."

Justin just shrugged as he stated while putting on his seatbelt, "Yeah, well. No one's interested in asking for a child Prodigy, you know."

Courtney put her seat belt on, but then a thought struck her. she turned to him and asked, "Wait. Don't you need a license to drive? I mean, you're only fifteen so wouldn't that mean you need one…or at least a driver's permit?"

Justin just smirked as he put the key into the ignition, and said to her in a playful Southern accent, "Ya don't need a license to drive a giant go-kart." And then started the dune buggy. And just like that, the buggy's engine roared like a mighty tiger, roaring to life for the first time to its first shotgun passenger. Courtney looked at Justin other in amazement and excitement, seeing as how this was her first buggy ride.

Justin looked at the girl's excited look and gave her a smile, "Alright, let's ride!" He pushed the automatic gear in Drive and gave it some gas. The Dune Buggy sped out of the alleyway and out on to the streets probably doing 30 MPH. For the first time that day, Courtney shouted out in excitement and glee as they treaded on the streets closing into the main streets and heading right for the Halloween store.

**A Few Minutes Later**

**Hollow's Eve Street**

The Dune Buggy had raced across the town to head towards Stranger's Halloween Store. Along the way, Justin had given the new girl Courtney a free tour of his home town. He had told her all about the museum, on how they were constructing a new Superstition Wing in a few months. He even showed her the teen's old hangout on the weekends, called the Grind. It was a fancy coffee and dance house, and on some occasions a few of the artistic kids would perform a little something. Courtney wasn't too sure about the museum, but that performance piece at the coffee house sounded pretty interesting.

It was just then, Justin had spotted it as he pointed out, "Here we are." Justin pulled up to a parking meter and it was when the Dune Buggy was turned off, Courtney got a good look at the Halloween Store. It was around the size of a Mansion Manor and stood around three stories high. There were three towers that connected it, making it almost W-shaped in a way. The place looked creepy and dilapidated, with a few oil lamps hanging from the patio roof edge. In truth, the whole place was just as skin-crawling, and bone-chilling as anything in a horror movie. Even Courtney had to admit, it was pretty scary, even for her.

The two teens got out of the car and walked up the stair patio to the front door. There was a sign posted on the front, that said: STRANGER'S HALLOWEEN AND ANTIQUE STORE: WHERE HERE, EVERYDAY IS HALLOWEEN. Courtney shrugged and innerly agreed with herself, 'Well, this must be the place.' But just before she reached for the knob, a strange gust of wind blew and whistled by them, lasting only for a few seconds. The two teens looked at one another in a little surprised and confused by that strange weather anomaly. It was then that Courtney asked, "Does that happen around here?"

Justin shook his head as he stated, "This is the first time that's ever happened at this store." However, he shook it off as he reached for the door, but was beaten to it by Courtney as she stuck her tongue out at him. Justin asked, "I thought it was a gentleman's job to get the door for a lady?"

Courtney opened the door as she made a clever remark, "Yeah, but we're not men or women. We're still kids, ya know?" Justin just shook his head as he smirked and the two went on into the store.

**Inside**

The two teens stepped on inside, letting the doors close behind them as they looked around the Halloween establishment's insides. The room was vast as it entered into a ballroom with a two-way circle staircase in the center. The walls were painted in black paint, posters of famous horror movies that were kept in frames and hung on the walls, like portraits, and the floor had with it a swirling vortex, An iron made chandelier was hanging right on top of them, just two stories above them. But the dead giveaway to prove that the place was a Halloween store was the many Halloween knickknacks, costumes, decorations, and Jack O'Lanterns that were strewn around the place, and in the rooms that connected to the ballroom.

The two teens looked at the whole scenery with astonishment. It may have been a little creepy at first, but in truth it was pretty cool. Especially to Courtney, whom if she were holding a bag, she would have let it fall to the ground. She had seen her share of Halloween stores, but this place; this was like a Wal-Mart of Halloween. She looked at Justin as she asked, "Is this really a Halloween Store?"

He nodded as he stated, "Yeah, it is. The owner of the place is a huge collector." With that, they walked towards the stairs, and walked up. While going up, he explained to Courtney that he had heard stories about the owner of the store. The owner of the place appeared in Amityville around sixty years ago in the 1940s. He had built the store from an old haunted house, formerly known as Whipstaff Manor.

It was while they were walking, that Courtney looked at him, like she was excited. She asked, "We're in a haunted house?"

Justin shook his head as he said, "No, they thought it was haunted but there wasn't any proof of that." They stopped in the top and looked at both directions. The two looked to see what was in the separate wings; on the left there was the antiquities, and on the right the library. The two teens looked at each other and Justin said, "I'm gonna go look for the owner in the Antiquities."

Courtney nodded as she replied, "Yeah, I'm gonna go look in the library.", she started to walk that way as she stated, "Someone will definitely be in there." Justin nodded as he walked in towards the Antiquities.

**Antiquities Wing**

Justin walked inside as he looked around to see if there was anyone n the room. However, as he looked through the room, he noticed the artifacts that were sprawled across the place. All around the room, on tables, on numerous shelves, and sometimes in glass cases, were artifacts that nearly spanned all over the world. From America, Egypt, London, Ireland, New Zealand, Tibet, South America…anywhere on the globe. A lot of the artifacts looked like they would be come sort of center piece for a ritual burial rite.

Justin then turned his attention towards an artifact that resembled a web. It had skulls placed in some parts of the web that were critical to its stability. He also saw a spider in the middle of it as he walked over to it, "Man…this thing looks almost like its real." When he reached out to touch the spider, it moved and crawled down the web. Justin shot back from it, muttering, "Oh…it was real…"

"Don't mind Paul, sir."

Justin nearly jumped as he heard someone speak up. he turned around to see who it was that talked to him and came face-to-face with that person. He nearly had his breath taken out of him as he saw who it was. It was a fourteen year old Caucasian girl, extremely beautiful with short red silky hair in a small flip, with curly cues that covered her ears, and a white streak in her hair that looked like a lightning bolt, and stunningly beautiful emerald green eyes. She was slim and slender, and wearing a black button up shirt with an orange button jacket, a khaki mini-skirt, and black stockings. But the odd thing that she was wearing a brown and orange scarf that covered her neck.

Justin, a little startled by the encounter, asked, "Uh, hi. Are you, by any chance, an employee of this place?"

The girl nodded as she stated, "Yes, I do. My name is Elsa." She then pointed to a few artifacts as she stated, "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Justin looked around for a moment, and walked towards one of the bookshelves. On one of them, it had a very peculiar item that caught his eye; a small gold and black Rubix cube-like puzzle box with strange Egyptian and Glyph marks decorating it. Justin walked towards it, and seemed fairly interested in it; having a huge interest in wanting to solve it. However, as he reached for it, Elsa saw it and paled at what he was about to do. She stammered a little but shouted, "AH…THAT'S NOT FOR SALE. DON'T TOUCH IT!"

Justin was a little startled by that outburst, but straightened himself out. He then turned to Elsa and said, "Well, to tell you the truth…I'm not here for any shopping…"

**Library Wing**

Courtney looked around the area; on the first way in, she had spotted a shelf with jars. In them, looked to be the remains of dead human beings; she chuckled at this, "Oh, come on. They have to do better than this." And continued onward into the store. When she had reached the end of the hallway and got to the wing of the Library, her face showed that of shock and amazement.

The halls, walls, and shelves in the library were filled with books and books that went on for what felt like miles. Swamps, cascades, gardens of books; it would be a book reader's paradise. However, all the books were solely based on the Occult and Horror fiction, which to Courtney, was a dream come true. She looked around the entire library, completely forgetting that she was looking for anyone there, and just enjoyed the browsing.

It was only when that she had gotten on the second staircase balcony of the Library that she spotted it. Courtney couldn't believe her eyes as she dazedly walked towards it. In a one shelved compartment, not guarded by anything, was a huge book with a haunting presence to it. She looked at it and read the cover in a whisper, to allow herself to confirm what she had read, "The Book of Goosebumps?", she smirked as she looked at it carefully. It was while she was looking at it, she didn't notice a shadow looming over as she spoke out again, "There's no author. That's just weird."

It was then that her curiosity for this book got the best of her. She slowly went up to the book, and then reached out for it, almost as if it called to her. But just before she could get close enough to touch it, a dark calm voice spoke up from behind her, "Sorry, Miss. But as I tell all my customers…that book's not for reading." Courtney turned around to see who it was and nearly had her heart jump out into her throat.

Who had spoken up to her was a Caucasian man, around in his early sixties but looked pretty fit. He had long silver hair that touched his shoulders, a little stubble beard and mustache on his thin and wrinkled face, and calm yet eerie blue eyes. He was dressed in a white button up dress shirt, and a full black suit; something befitting of an undertaker. And in his right hand, was a cane, with a silver-skull handle on it. He then asked her, in a more polite tone, "May I help you, young lady?"

A little startled by his arrival, Courtney cleared her throat as she spoke to him, "Um…you know, I've never seen a store like this before." She slapped herself mentally, thinking she sounded so lame, 'Nice one, Keller. What are you going to say next? Hey, Mister, the hippie look went out thirty years ago? Please!'

The man simply walked to the other side of her, and simply answered, "Well, we are one of a kind. That, and we're only available in this town."

Courtney looked around and replied, "I see…", she then turned to the old man as she asked him, "So you work here, sir?"

The older gentleman nodded as he leaned on his cane with both his hands as he looked at the girl, "Yes. Well, more specifically, I'm the store's owner. I…am John D. Stranger."

Courtney lit up as she asked him, "You mean you're the store owner?", the man nodded in reply as she smiled, "That's great! You see, I'm here…"

"You're here to apply for a job, am I correct?", Stranger replied as he stopped leaning on his cane and walked away. Courtney followed him as she tried to catch up to him. For some odd reason, for a sixty-year-old man, he was surprisingly fast.

She caught up to him as she asked, "Yeah, but how did you know…."

"Well, before we get into any depth questions….you're hired.", Stranger replied as he stopped in front of her and looked back with what appeared to be a small smile. Courtney stopped in her tracks, and was a little surprised by that. She was just hired on the spot before she could get out her preferences. She didn't even sign anything; no application, not even her name, address, etc.

It was then that she stated, "But I haven't sign anything yet. You don't even know who I…"

The man simply looked at her with the unchanged expression on his face as he answered, "Courtney McRaven Keller; age fifteen, lives at 3234 Woodcliff Road; you have a younger brother and have a mother; also, you're a big fan of Horror stories. That and you seem to have a joy when scaring people who deserve it."

Courtney was a little stunned by all this as she looked at him, "H-How…How'd you know all that?" Her face then had a look of skepticism on her face as she asked, "Am I being punked? Or are you some kind of stalker?"

The man named Stranger chuckled as he pulled something out of his pocket. He then handed it to Courtney, who was a little hesitant, but then accepted it. She then looked at what he had given her and was a little surprised as to what it was. It was her ID card; she checked her jacket pockets, and realized it wasn't there. She looked at the old man as Stranger answered, "It fell out of your pocket when you walked into the library. I'd be careful not to lose it again; I might not spot it a second time." She was a little stunned, but was about to ask how she knew about her mother and brother, not to mention her love of Horror books and scaring. Then Stranger replied, "I saw your family move in when I was out for a walk on the day you moved into town. That and you seem like that kind of person; what with the way you dress."

Courtney was a little stunned by all that analysis, but then replied, "Oh. Uh, okay, well does that mean I can get the job?"

Stranger looked at the girl with a frown that lasted for only a few minutes. Courtney was a little nervous, thinking that she had said the wrong thing, but then was relieved when Stranger smiled again as he answered, "Eager aren't we? Of course, my dear. Seeing as how you're the only one who's ever asked for a job here."

Courtney, who couldn't believe her luck, just took the man's hand, and shook it like crazy. She smiled widely as she shook his hand, "Oh, thank you, Mr. Stranger. Thank you very much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

But then Stranger pulled back his hand, startling Courtney as he stated, "However…there is one rule that you must follow and never break." He then pointed behind Courtney, as she looked and saw the Book of Goosebumps. She looked back to Stranger, who replied, "You must never read that book….", he then took something from around his neck. It was a small chain, and hung around it, acting like a pendant, was a small key with the end of it, shaped like an evil looking skull.

Then by Courtney's surprise, he put it around her neck as he answered, "…for you're now its new keeper. As I was it's before you."

Courtney looked at the strange key, slightly confused by this turn of events in her job. She took the key in her hand and looked at it, slightly confused. She then turned to Stranger as she asked, "That's it? That's all I have to do is not read that book and guard it?"

Stranger nodded as he replied, "That and to help Elsa around the store as much as you can."

Courtney looked confused as she asked, "Elsa?"

The doors came open, and then Stranger and Courtney were greeted not only by Justin, but also Elsa. She wasn't quite a Goth, but then Justin walked up to Courtney as he asked, "So, Courtney. How'd it go?"

Stranger simply replied, "She starts working here, after the dance you two have on Friday."

The two teens looked a little weirded out by that, but then they were shoed out of the room by Elsa, whom said that they had to leave. But before they could ask her why, she didn't reply; all she did was scoot them out as she closed the door behind them. As the doors were closed, and she placed the Close sign up, she turned back to the staircase, to see John D. Stranger, walking down the stairs with his cane in hand.

She walked to the steps as she asked, "Are you sure it's a good idea? I mean are you sure it's a good idea to entrust someone we've only known a few minutes, just to trust her with that key."

Stranger nodded as he stopped at the mid steps, "I know, but there's something about her that reminds me of what Stine had."

She nodded as she looked back at the door, picturing the two teens leaving. She then had a look of worry as she pulled off her scarf, revealing two mysterious metal screws completely in her neck. She then turned to Stranger as she asked, "But what happens if she reads it?"

Stranger looked back upstairs, towards the Library wing was. He then turned back to Elsa, as he simply stated, "Then may God have mercy on our souls."

**Next Chapter: Halloween Party Bonanza**


	4. Halloween Party Bonanza

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

**Chapter 3: Halloween Party Bonanza**

**Keller Household**

Courtney was lying on her bed, with her boots off as she crossed her feet and looked up at the ceiling. Justin had driven her home after they had left the store. When they had stopped at her house and she had gotten her stuff off, thanks to Justin, her mother had pulled in with her brother. When her mother had seen Justin, she acted like any mother would; she gushed all over them like they were a couple. Courtney just moaned in frustration as she muffled her face into a pillow as she muffled, "God! Why does Mom have to be this embarrassing?"

She then took the pillow off her face as she started to stare at the ceiling again. She then looked at the key that rested around her neck, and took her right hand to lift it up to her eye view. She twiddled with it a little, getting a good look at it for a while to get an understanding of what had just happened. The owner of the store, with a pretty mysterious name John D. Stranger, knew a lot about her and just gave her this key. She thought to herself as she looked at the dangling key, 'The key to that book, the Book of Goosebumps.', she raised an eyebrow at it as she asked herself, 'But why can't I read it? Why bother having it up the shelf if he's not gonna sell it?'

Just then, the door to her room opened up, causing her to jump up by surprise. She turned and saw her brother Max, all dressed up like a pirate as he jumped up and down. He was in joy as he smiled to his older sister, "Courtney, look! I've got a pirate costume! A real pirate costume!"

Courtney just smiled at her brother's joyous attitude as she smirked, "Wow, me harty. In what pirate booty are we be huntin' this year?"

Max smiled as he played along with his sister and joked, "Booty? I thought we were looking for Halloween treasure, like candy…not shoes."

Courtney laughed at that little joke and sat up, "So, Squirt…you ready to go out on the town this Halloween?"

Max smirked as he crossed his arms at her, "Are you ready to take me out this year?"

Courtney gave him a fake thinking look in her face as she crossed her arms, "Hmmm…well, I don't know. I probably have a lot of stuff to do. Probably have to work." She then saw Max's face began to distort to a look of disappointment. That's when she smirked at him, "I'll see if I can get out early." With that, Max jumped at her, hugging her and praising her with 'thank-you's' all over her.

But then Max asked her, "Hey, you want to take your boyfriend with us?" He smirked as he saw that clueless look on Courtney's face, "You know, that brown haired boy with the cool-looking go-kart."

It was then that Courtney's face went bright red, nearly covering her pale face, "Wh-What?" She shook her head as she looked at her brother seriously, still blushing though, "Max. That boy's not my boyfriend."

Max smirked as he broke loose of his sister's grip. He then walked towards the door as he smiled at her, "Okay, then how about your friend who's a boy?" Courtney threw a pillow at him, but he escaped as he closed the door. He popped up before he closed the door finally, "Aw come on, I can tell he really likes hanging out with you." And with that, closed the door to leave her sister in thought.

She lay back on the bed as she thought about what her brother had said. She thought about it a little, and then to even her surprise, let out a small smirk at realization. Justin had been a great help to her, and seemed really nice to her all day long. Even though he was a little sarcastic at times, he was also pretty funny when he wanted to be. She wasn't sure about it though, but maybe it was okay to have a friend once in a while.

**The Next Day**

**Amityville Junior High**

**Lunch Time**

Everyone was walking around, getting their lunches as they were scarfing down their food. One student was currently in line for her Sloppy Joe; it was none other than Courtney as she scooted along for her Sloppy Joe. The Lunch Lady set it on her tray, but not before someone bumped into her. She wasn't aware who it was until he spoke up, "Oh, sorry about that. I was just…." A little surprised by this turn of events, she saw it was Justin. He then looked surprised himself as he smiled at her, "Hey, Working Girl, how you've been so far?" He saw Courtney half-smirk at that title, thinking about her job at the Halloween Store. She was still in disbelief that she had gotten the job so easily that day.

Even though she didn't think of Justin as an official friend, just yet, she felt it would be impolite to shrug him off. She just simply replied, "Mmm. It's been good so far." She then turned over to Priscilla's table, and saw the sassy girl give her a death glare, before snuggling back into her boyfriend's lap. Courtney returned to Justin's gaze as she replied, "Though, lately…the prissy princess over there's been giving me a lot of attention lately."

Justin shrugged it off as he took a sip of MD Red soda, "I wouldn't worry about it…too much." Courtney shrugged at it as she was about to take a bit out of her sandwich. But was stopped when Justin made a comment, "Though you might be a little careful. She's been known to get even by playing a lot of terrible Halloween pranks on people."

Courtney scoffed at that, "Oooh, I'm really scared. Justin…I happen to be starting a book on Halloween pranks; there's no way she could out prank me." Courtney was about to take another attempt at biting her sandwich, but then was stopped as the Announcements were made.

ATTENTION STUDENTS! THIS FRIDAY, October 29, IS THE ANNUAL HALLOWEEN DANCE PARTY. REMEMBER TO PRACTICE NOT DANCING TOO CLOSE TOGETHER, BECAUSE I WOULDN'T WANT TO SEPARATE YOU ALL.

That earned a row of laughter as the Principal went on, ALSO, ON A LATTER NOTE, WE HAVE THE RESULTS OF THE MISS PUMPKIN QUEEN PAGENT. AND THE WINNER IS…tension was building up for the girls in the cafeteria, and all around the school as they awaited the results. Courtney was just sighing at this boring play out; she still couldn't believe that everyone was getting worked up about this. She was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, until the announcement was finished…

PRISCILLA WRIGHT! CONGRADULATIONS!

Everyone at the jock's table cheered on their leader's girlfriend, while Priscilla bowed and thanked everyone. Justin and Courtney just shook their heads as Courtney asked, "What's so great about this Pumpkin Queen thing?"

Justin took a sip from his soda as he explained, "Ah, it's some kind of Amityville Junior High tradition they play on before Halloween." He explained to her that it was a custom here, sort of like the Halloween Prom Queen for the Halloween Prom. He shrugged as he took a bite out of his pizza, "They state that it's a beautiful Halloween tradition here; the dance, the lights, even the piñata."

Courtney was about to take a bite out of her sandwich, until she heard that and asked, "Piñata?"

Justin shrugged as he explained, "It's some goofy gimmick they have as the grand finale for the dance. Only the Pumpkin Queen can bust it open."

Courtney raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Priscilla, "Priscilla?" She shrugged, and after all that, finally took a bite out of her sandwich. However, as she did, something was a little odd about it. The first bite; it felt like something was wiggling around in her mouth. She spat her chunk out as she looked at her sandwich, "What the…?" She opened it, only to stand straight up and scream at the top of her lungs.

Justin looked at her as he asked, "What? What is it?" He then looked at the sandwich as he looked disgusted. There were worms in the sandwich; worms that were still alive and wiggling. Courtney was spitting out her sandwich as fast as she could; it was only then that the two teens heard the laughing and giggling. They heard it coming from the Jock's table as they saw Josh laughing his lungs out, but what they saw really stuck it to Courtney…Deep.

Priscilla mockingly waved at Courtney, with an evil smile and snicker to boot. Priscilla mockingly asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought a witch needed more protein in her diet." Courtney gritted her teeth at this, silently swearing that she would get her back, and pay it back in full…twice as much.

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

After school, Courtney came straight to work, and began the series of the day's duties. Right now, she was up on a ladder in the library, placing the books in alphabetical order. She was starting on S for now and was later on, going to move to T. However, as she was working, she still fumed about the prank that Priscilla had pulled on her. Hearing all that laughter on her, the looks that everyone gave her, she felt right then that she wanted to die.

It was while she was stacking and organizing the books, her attention was turned back to an object of much desire. On the one display shelf, she saw the book entitled, The Book of Goosebumps. She still didn't understand why no one was allowed to read the book at all, much less buy it. Just knowing that much made her want to read it even more so now. She pulled the key necklace up, and then back at the book. She thought to herself, 'Maybe…just maybe after hours….' But shook that thought aside as she got back to work.

It was while she was finishing up on one section and climbing down off the ladder, that Elsa came in. When Courtney turned around to see her, she was a little flabbergasted on what she just saw. She saw her, carrying twenty books in two stacks…but held them up by only one arm. Courtney thought and asked herself, 'What. Does. This. Girl. Eat?'

Elsa turned to her and asked, "Do you need anything, Courtney?"

Courtney shook her head to stop staring at her, and replied, "Huh? Oh, no. Thanks anyway." But before Elsa could leave, Courtney decided to ask her a simple question, "Hey, Elsa? Have you ever been picked on before?"

Elsa stopped for a moment, and then a pained look came on her face. She remembered way back then, before Stranger and she had come to America. Angry mobs, torches, pitchforks; people throwing stuff at her, cursing at her and claiming or demanding she died. All of her life, when people found out about what she was, they would treat her like a monster and drive her out of town.

Courtney looked at her fellow employee and saw the spaced out look of pain on her face. She walked over to Elsa and asked, "Elsa?" The girl woke up from her trance state as she looked at Courtney who asked, "You okay?"

Elsa shook off the spaced face, and smiled to her, "Oh, nothing; it's nothing. But yeah, I was. That's why John home-schools me."

Courtney asked, "Oh, I see. The store owner's your grandfather?"

Elsa shook her head as she answered, "No, he's more like my brother."

Courtney raised a much confused eyebrow at that answer. She shrugged and went back to work, but not before she bumped into someone. She looked and saw it was Mr. Stranger himself, as he asked, "I heard you had worm sandwich today, Miss Keller."

Courtney, a little startled, asked out of frustration of him popping up and knowing something that she didn't tell anyone, "Is _this_ gonna be a recurring thing with you?"

Stranger merely shrugged as he answered, "Probably." He then walked over to one of the reading tables and placed on it. He then turned around and asked Courtney, "I figured that you might have had a bully at the school fed you that sandwich."

Courtney nodded and growled, "Yeah, and I want to get even with that witch."

Stranger then walked over to Courtney and padded her shoulder, "Well then…within that bag, is the instrument of your vengeance." He then walked and headed towards the door that led out of the Library section of the store. But not before he gave her a bit of advice, "Of course, how you implement the instrument…I leave that to you, Miss Keller.", and with that said, he was out of there.

Courtney turned her attention to the bag and walked over to it. She opened the bag to reveal three Thermos sized plastic containers. The plastic revealed that whatever was in there was black and brown, and moving around. Courtney smirked at this, while Elsa looked a little freaked out by it. Courtney smirked as she looked to Elsa, "You know, Elsa…I'm beginning to like your brother/boss even more now."

Elsa sweat dropped as she nervously chuckled, "Well, eh…that's a relief."

As Courtney looked at the containers, a thought struck her on how to use whatever was in them. She turned to Elsa as she asked, "You got a costume at the ready?"

Elsa nervously nodded, not sure if she liked what Courtney was thinking on, "Uh, kind of."

Courtney walked over to Elsa, and looped an arm around her neck, holding her close to her. "Then put on your dancing shoes, and expect Justin to come along for the ride…", she said as she held up a container, and smiled, "…because we're gonna attend the Halloween Prom."

**The Next Night**

**Amityville Junior High**

**Halloween Prom Night**

The Halloween Prom was being held in the gym stadium, where everything was going swimmingly. The whole place was decorated in Halloween decorations, the buffet tables were loaded with Halloween foods and sweets, and even a cauldron was used for the game of bobble apples. A huge stage was set up, and a band dressed up like skeletal zombies were playing a song entitled, October 31st.

The students were all over the place, dancing to the music or socializing with one another, discussing on what they were gonna do on Halloween night. They were all dressed up in Halloween costumes, so there were a number of creatures roaming around in the school.

During the dancing and the socializing, everyone didn't even notice the three new occupants that came into the room. It was none other than the trio themselves; Justin, Courtney, and Elsa, all dressed up and rarin' to go on their little prank. Courtney was dressed in an Elvira like dress, but had vampire-like dentures in her mouth, showing that she was dressed as a sexy vampire girl.

Justin was dressed in a nearly torn, but sewn back together jacket, black pants torn in the knees, and a white button up dress shirt. His skin had been painted pale, and his hair was dyed black, and was wearing combat boots as well. Like Courtney, he also had vampire dentures, showing that he was a modern day vampire, and not those ridiculous Count Dracula costumes that the other students had.

Elsa had on the most realistic costumes that the two teens had ever seen. She was dressed up as the bride of Frankenstein, minus the sticky up hair of course. She had a long white dress that went down to hide her feet, bandaged arms and hands, and two bolts in her neck. Courtney had to admit, they were the most realistic thing that she had ever seen on someone.

Courtney looked around the room, trying to see if the target was nearby, and was interrupted by Justin tapping her on the shoulder. She turned and asked, "What?"

He pointed in a different direction as he stated, "Target at Seven o'clock." They had spotted the target, one Priscilla Wright, who was dressed up like a medieval princess, dancing with Josh, who was in turn a knight. Just seeing her smirk like that, made Courtney's blood run cold with anger. Tonight, she was about to get her just desserts.

She looked to the others as she asked, "You guys remember what to do?"

Justin nodded as he smirked, "We've got a pretty good idea."

Elsa nervously nodded, "Well…I, uh…okay."

The three teens made their move as they headed to where they knew where the piñata was being held at. They searched all over until they found out that it was behind the band stage. However, it was guarded by two sixteen-year-olds; that's where Elsa came in as she walked towards them, innocently. She seductively pouted as she smiled, "Hey, boys." And then in an instant, they were smitten by her as they walked over to her.

The first boy asked smoothly, "Hey, can I get you a soda?"

The second one asked, "How about a few Trick or Treats?"

Elsa, trying to resist the urge to gag at what she was doing, smiled at them as she led them away, "How about a little dance first, boys?" And with that, they were off onto the scene. That gave the duo the chance to get to the back to where the piñata was kept at. When they found it, Courtney was actually a little impressed by the Pumpkin piñata. It was pretty big and decorative for the dance; Courtney almost felt sorry for doing what she had to do.

But she did it anyway as Justin handed her the bag with the three containers, "Okay, let's load them in and be done with it before they come back." Courtney nodded as she opened the first container, and dumped all the contents inside as fast as she could. Then she proceeded with the second and third containers, while Justin kept a lookout. He was looking out there, and saw Elsa distracting the boys as best as she could. Though on her end, she seemed to be having a great time dancing, but a terrible time with the two boys.

Courtney put the containers away as she walked up to Justin and reported, "Mission accomplished. Let's go get Elsa and wait for the Queen's reaction." With that said the two took the bag, topped the piñata off, and ran out of there. Justin gave Elsa the high sign, and with that done, she dumped the two boys. She ran over to them as they mixed into the crowd, staying close together to be sure that they could see this together.

Elsa didn't know this Priscilla, but she felt that this was a little cruel to be done by someone. She didn't really know why John let this go on; to her this was just mean and evil…well, maybe not evil but it was still mean. She turned to the two teens as she asked, "Um, guys? Don't you think this is a little cruel to play on someone?"

Justin looked at Elsa, and gave her a dumbfounded look as he asked, "Are you kiddin' me? Trust me; Priscilla had this coming for a long time."

Courtney looked at her with a glare as she stated, "She…put worms in my sandwich. A little cruel? Oh no, if she wants to play like that. She's gonna get it twice in retribution."

And after those two answers, the band stopped playing and everyone was applauding for a great performance. Then a portly fellow, in his mid forties, brown hair going slightly bald, and dressed up like a Mexican for Halloween. This was Principal McKibble as he made his announcements, "How about those Skeletons, kids? Give a round of applause for those Skeletons, folks!" Everyone did so as the whole place was filled with whistling, clapping, and hooting and screaming. After all that was over with, McKibble announced, "Happy Halloween everyone! As your principal, I'm proud as tonight that we're gonna continue to carry on a special tradition." He smiled as he stated, "Tonight, may I present to you…this year's Pumpkin Queen…Priscilla Wright, come forth and receive your crown."

Everyone applauded, including the three scheming teens as they awaited the end results, as the queen walked up. Priscilla smirked as she skipped on up there to the stage, where two girls were awaiting her. One of them had a crown, and the other one had a scepter.

When Priscilla stepped up to them in the spotlight, the first girl with the crown walked up to her as she said, "Here is your glory.", and with that, she was crowned.

The second girl walked up to her as she handed Priscilla the scepter, "And here is you power." And with that done, everyone applauded her as she took a bow and gave them all a smile.

Priscilla then looked to 'her' people, and announced, "I command a mighty pumpkin, to feed my loyal subjects." And with that said, that was the signal. As she said that, the Pumpkin Piñata lowered down to Priscilla, and Principal McKibble walked over to the Pumpkin Queen. And everyone around the room started chanting, "SMASH IT! SMASH IT! SMASH IT!"

Justin and Courtney clapped together, in order to get her going a little bit faster with the hitting. Courtney only smirked at this as she thought, 'That's right, Pumpkin Queen…smack that pumpkin for all it's worth. Because the real treat is what's inside.'

It only took around six to eight whacks for the piñata to finally start cracking. And after the final whack, the piñata busted open, spilling candy…and also Egyptian cockroaches. They landed on Priscilla, as she screamed and freaked out in utter terror; going around in circles. Everyone in the gym looked at this in complete disgust as they saw Priscilla going around in circles on the stage. She did that, until she fell off the stage, and fell face first into the Halloween party four-stacked cake.

There was a moment of silence, as everyone looked at Priscilla face first in the cake. It was only until Priscilla pulled herself out of the cake and looked at everyone pretty shocked and PO'ed that it happened. Courtney could hold it in for any longer, so she giggled at this, which later on erupted into laughter. Everyone followed in on it as they all laughed too, including some of the teachers who couldn't help themselves. Priscilla was fuming mad as she figured that she knew who had done this to her; she looked at the girl that she identified as Keller and would crusher her, just like she crushed her tonight.

However, unaware by anyone, someone in the crowd had their eye on Courtney. Hidden within the crowd, was a very familiar character that only two people in town knew about them. It was the same woman back in Transylvania sixty years ago; very attractive Asian woman, long silky raven black hair that was pulled back to expose her forehead, and went down to her back, slim and slender figure in a very sexy black satin dress. And the very same eerie ruby red eyes; like a pit leading into danger and fear.

It was none other than Revolta, and her eyes were on Courtney.

She had a good look at her, and saw that around Courtney's neck, was the key that opened the book. She seductively and evilly smirked at Courtney as she thought to herself, 'So Johnny boy passed the key down to someone else now.' She lightly chuckled to herself, 'This makes things so much fun…and so much simpler for me to do.' And with that thought passed, she disappeared into the crowd, almost as if she disappeared out of thin air.

**Next Chapter: Don't Read Aloud!**


	5. Do Not Read Aloud!

**Goosebumps Adventure! **

**Chapter 4: Don't Read Aloud!**

**Amity** **Junior High School**

**The Next Day**

Everyone was talking about the great laughing event that had happened during the Pumpkin Piñata event. Some of the students couldn't believe that someone had the guts or the courage to do what they did to Priscilla. Some believe it was something out of stupidity that they did it. However, mostly everyone was laughing at this turn of events and started to make fun of Priscilla behind her back.

This all stopped as they heard Priscilla and her girls come walking into the hallway. Priscilla was still fuming over on what had happened to her ever since it happened. Her two friends were by her side as always, but this day, they were praying for the girl that started the whole thing, for Priscilla was out for blood. It was then that she spotted her; the girl that ruined her night, Courtney Keller.

Courtney was casually taking a sip of water from the school's water fountain, not even knowing that Priscilla was standing over her. She stopped drinking and then noticed Priscilla, whose face was contorted in rage and scheming. Then Priscilla snarled at Courtney, saying, "I know it was _you_, Keller."

Courtney knew that this was gonna happen; the popular girl was trying to accuse the first poor shmuck she aw her eyes on. But maybe she already knew who did it and was singling out her already. Well this wasn't the time to get timid on this, so she smugly crossed her arms as she smirked, "Really? Can you prove it?"

Priscilla growled at the girl's ignorance, but didn't have time for it. She was gonna be late for class, so she started to walk away, she glared at Courtney, "I'm gonna get you for this."

Courtney had to get to class as well, but mocked Priscilla as she sarcastically and mockingly shot back at Priscilla, "Ooh, I'm really scared.", she looked at Priscilla as she walked away, "What are you gonna do? Dress me up to look like your twin?"

Priscilla growled at the girl as she and her enemy walked away towards their class. Priscilla sneered at the thought of the Keller girl and silently vowed to exact her sweet, sweet revenge on her…by any means necessary.

**After School**

The school doors busted open as all the teens ran out of the school. They were all excited to get home for this night; for this night, was All Hollow's Eve. All the teens ran out to bikes or to their cars, trucks, or vans. However, as usual that day, Courtney was walking out of the school with a Poe book clutched to her chest. As she did, she squeezed through the teenage crowd, trying to get through them and had successfully gotten through. She had gotten to her locker and was now wearing her black hoodie jacket with strap sleeves, and a white skeleton-pipe ribbed design on the front. After she had gotten through, she was on her way home to get her brother. She found out that she couldn't get off work in time, but had learned of something pretty nice for Max.

At the Halloween Store, for a rare time on this one night, Mr. Stranger allowed a little tour of the Halloween store. And each end of the tour, the tourists were given a bag full of candy; as big as a pillow case. Courtney smiled at this as she walked towards her home, and snickered a little, "I guess that'll make Max happy."

THUD!

Courtney fell flat on her butt, just as she felt something bump into her. She groaned a little, a little annoyed at something like this happening on the day of her first job. As she regained her composure and started to get up, she noticed what she had bumped into…or who. It was a woman, a very attractive Asian woman, long silky raven black hair that was pulled back to expose her forehead, and went down to her back, slim and slender figure in a very sexy black satin dress, with a black coat with white fluffy trim on the cuffs and neck collar. And a pair of beautiful but eerie ruby red eyes; like a pit leading into danger and fear.

Courtney at that time couldn't help but blush at the woman; to her she was the epitome of a Gothic beauty. She blushed and felt green with envy at bumping into such a lovely woman. She got up as she walked over to the woman to help her up, "I am so sorry.", she then extended her hand to her, and she graciously accepted it, "I should have watched where I was going."

The woman smiled as she got up with Courtney's help, "Think nothing of it, young lady." She brushed herself off as she looked at the young girl, "I was careless on where I was going. I didn't mean to bump into someone as lovely as you."

That earned a bright blush from Courtney as she didn't realize someone thought of her as beautiful. She then stammered, as she started to walk away, "Well, I uh, I've got to get going now." And with that, she ran towards her home, unaware that the woman had dropped something in her hoodie. It looked like a small sapphire tear drop, until it cracked legs of its own, and crawled up her neck and into her hair, undetected.

Revolta watched her little minion take its place, waiting for the right time to do what it was summoned to do. She smirked at the girl's retreating form as she snickered, "Such a lovely girl indeed… and unaware of the danger… that I'll make you put everyone through."

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

**October 31st**

**Halloween Night**

It was night as the streets were festive with Jack O'Lanterns and street lights. Kids and teens were roaming the streets together, or separate with a parent/guardian behind them. Everyone was dressed in costumes and carrying with them a huge pillow case-sized sack, and eagerly awaiting to getting some candy tonight. Even at Stranger's Halloween Store, it was hustling and bustling at this time.

Customers were coming in and out with bags of candy, when the tour of the establishment was over. It was sort of a Pay as you Exit deal, except Stranger was the one paying the customers with a huge settlement of candy as the payment. Courtney was working the cash register, but wasn't doing much of anything, seeing as how no one was paying any money for this. She just kept watch all night, but Max, who was now dressed as a beardless Jack Sparrow, was looking around the place, and just looking. Her sister had told him not to touch anything that shouldn't be touched, and after he had seen Mr. Stranger, it was pretty obvious not to get on the man's bad side.

However, he had met Elsa, and judging from a goofy expression, Courtney had figured that the boy had developed a small crush on her co-worker. She snickered at that as she thought, 'Oh boy…my little brother's already into girls. Well then, he's got a lot to learn before he does anything.'

Speaking of which, Elsa came walking down with a few huge bags of assorted candy: Twix, Snickers, Reese's, M&M's, and so on. Courtney shook her head as she saw she was carrying more things that were ten times her own bodyweight and still wondered how she did it. Elsa placed them down near the cauldron where everyone was given their candy, and she sighed in relief, "Whew! I think that's the last of it."

Courtney nodded as she smirked to Elsa, "Well, I hope that's not it, because there might be more customers coming in."

KA-SNAP!

The girls felt a flash as the turned towards the door to see who it was that did that. There they saw a fifteen year old African American boy with a shaved haircut, wearing jeans, a Chicago Bulls fan shirt, black and white sneakers, a gray coat, a brownish green shoulder bag, and a camera to boot in his hands. He smugly smiled at the two as he stated, "First picture for the Casper High School Paper: $15 dollars, Film: $5 dollars. And the look you ladies have after that flash…Priceless."

Courtney raised an eyebrow, and didn't much like having her picture taken like that, "And just who are you? And let me tell you, I don't like having my photo taken. So unless you've got a death wish…"

The boy, paling at this was about to take a dump in his pants, until a familiar face walked in. It was Justin as he answered on the boy's behalf, "His name's Alex, and he's a photographer working on the school newspaper." He explained that Alex had been sent to do an article on the artifacts of Stranger's Halloween Store. The only problem was, he needed to stay after hours, and Justin, was asked to help him out, seeing as someone had mentioned that he was a friend of someone who worked there.

Courtney raised an eyebrow at Justin, who shrugged, and sighed as she gave in, "Alright…but only after we close. It's a lot better if no one's around asking too many questions."

Alex smirked at this as he stated, "Thanks, you're not gonna regret this night."

Elsa walked to Courtney, as she looked a little concerned as she asked, "Courtney, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Courtney smirked as she winked, "Don't worry…as long as nothing goes wrong, we'll be okay on the clearing."

**After Closing**

The vast room that was the main entrance and ball room looked eerie with all the lights off. The black walls with the horror movie posters created a foreboding feeling, like paintings with eyes looking at you in someway. The swirling vortex was also an eerie effect as the light coming out the windows, made it an eerie effect of sorts. Even the shadow of the chandelier was eerie enough as it was. The many Halloween knickknacks, costumes, decorations, and Jack O'Lanterns that were strewn around the place, and in the rooms that connected to the ballroom, gave the place the cold fear of that of the House of the Dead.

The teens and kid looked at the whole scenery with a feeling of being creeped out now. It may have been a little creepy at first, but now with the closed and darkened aura, it was even creepier than before. Alex, the camera boy, felt a shiver run down his spine as he asked, "Couldn't we have done this at daylight? I mean I can't get a better shot with it being so dark."

Courtney looked over to the photographer as she sighed, "No, this was the only way for us to get in without either Stranger or Elsa spotting us." She then smirked evilly as best she could as she said, "Besides, it's much fun when you feel scared."

Justin smirked at that, "Well, you can't argue with that."

Courtney led them up to the stairs as the shadows were left down below. But then everyone paled a little as they saw the darkened hallway as they trekked together, with Max holding Courtney's hand. Courtney turned to her brother and gave him a reassuring smile; it told him that everything was going to be alright. And Max smiled back at that, knowing that his sister would always be there.

Courtney looked in front of her, but felt a little twinge of fear. Even a place like this could be getting on someone's fears. But then someone held her free hand; she turned to see who it was and saw Justin walking next to her. It was then that feeling the touch of his hand to hers, made her feel a little braver. She slightly blushed a little though; this was the first time a boy had taken her hand like this.

But then the moment was ruined when another hand was taken into her own. She looked over and saw Max holding her hand, slightly scared by the night shining through this place. She sighed as she looked over to Justin and Alex as she said and nodded forward, "This way. The library has a few things on display the paper could use."

Alex nodded, getting his camera ready, "Sounds great.", he then looked around a little frightened as he gulped a little, "Let's just hurry it up; this place gives me the willies."

Everyone nodded at that, as they made their way towards the Library. Unaware of the danger they were going into, they had no idea of what they were getting themselves into, nor the events they were slowly but surely setting into motion as of now.

**Library Wing**

The teens and kid had entered the darkened library; unable to see anything. The whole room was as black as entering a closed closet; the whole thing becoming pitch black darkness. The gang remained huddled together to be sure that they stayed together. However, Courtney broke up with the group, "I'm gonna go get the lights. Just wait right there until I can get them.", she then walked over back to the door to where the light switch was, and then flicked it on, "And then there was…light."

And immediately, the room was lit up, allowing illumination to bright up the room. The light however, gave the room as an eerie place, even with the lights lighting up. The three boys were in awe at the whole thing as they looked all over the room. Aside from shelves upon shelves of books, there were also a few artifacts. They looked pretty eerie at this, but then Courtney walked up to them as she nudged them all, "C'mon, guys. Time to show you guys the ultimate show piece of the store."

She walked them over to the staircase balcony, that she led them to the shelf that contained _the_ book. They reached the bookcase that had contained the book entitled, **The Book of Goosebumps**. The boys had their own thoughts about it as Courtney showed them the book; Justin was a little amazed by the book, Max felt a little creeped out just by looking at it; the photographer Alex was a little skeptical by this as he looked to Courtney and asked, "A book?"

Courtney shook her head as he walked over and read the cue card that was next to the book. She read out loud, and looked to the boys as she knew it would freak them out, "**The Book of Goosebumps** was said to have been created by Revolta, High Priestess of the Witch Goddess, Hecate. The book is bound in human skin, its pages were written in blood, and contain within it the knowledge of every monster that was ever known to exist in the word, as well as recipes on capturing them and for the most dangerous of spells, curses, and enchantments."

Max, who was starting to get a little creeped out, shrugged, "I get the picture, sis."

She then smirked as she said, "Wait, there's more…", and then read on as she continued, "Legend has it that the evil that is locked within the book shall be unleashed when read out loud by a virgin witchling on Halloween night." Seeing the boys' reactions to that caused her to smile at this. She then took out the key that was around her neck, and held it up to show them, as she pushed it more, "So let's open the sucker, read out loud, and meet the evil."

That caused the boys to pale at that suggestion, as Courtney reached for the book to pick it up. Then Justin walked over to her as he asked her, not to reassured by this, "Um…are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, to be messing around with something like this…?"

Courtney looked over to Justin as she stated, not too scared at all about this, "Justin, it's just a book. No harm ever came from reading a book.", and then the locked snapped open, shooting out a little dust, showing that no one had ever open it in a long time…ever. And then suddenly, a strange wind blew in; a strange cold, eerie wind…and then stopped, leaving the four slightly confused by that sudden wind occurrence.

Justin looked around, slightly freaked out by that wind, as he commented, "Well…that was weird."

Courtney suggested, "It was probably an open window.", she then opened the book to see the first page as everyone leaned in to see what was written. On the first page, it read the following:

**Dear Reader, **

**Welcome to R. L. Stine's field guide….to the secret world hidden beneath the world and shadows.**

**WARNING!**

**Do Not Read Aloud: This book is not for a reader's pleasure, but one's peril. For if you take one fateful reading of the first passage, you barter at your life's suspense, and face a deadly consequence.**

That was the fine print that Courtney had seen on the first page over. Though she thought it was a bunch of folly as she ignored the warning as she turned to the next page. Justin looked over her shoulder, nearly breathing down on her neck. It kind of tickled her but she looked at him with a half-smile, as she stated, "Hey, keep that breath out of tickling range."

Justin scooted over next to Alex as he apologized, "Sorry.", he then looked over to the page that she had turned next, and asked, "So what does it say?" Max and Alex leaned in to see the rest along with Courtney and Justin. However, they were unaware that the doorway to the hallway was slowly opening, revealing a shadow coming out.

Courtney looked at the page, with much wonder as she read it aloud, ignoring the warning:

_The Book of Goosebumps, should be for Not,_

_For its readings aren't, for the faint of heart._

_Within its pages, are things not said,_

_Entrapped is pure evil, from both living or dead._

_In it are a few ghosts, monsters, or beasts, _

_On the living, they love to scare and/or feast._

_There are things in the book, you don't wish to greet,_

_Those that suck your blood, or chew on fresh meat._

_Creatures that come in different shapes, sizes, and races,_

_Or those that simply hide behind human faces._

_For one thing is common for them, not wrong but right,_

_They all at different times, go bump in the night._

_But don't worry, don't cry, please don't have a fit._

_These nightmare creatures cannot escape,_

_Unless out loud, this passage, you read it._

_For if you do, then all readers beware…_

…_from this moment on, you're all in for a scare._

"NOOOO!", the four jumped out of their pants as they turned to see who shouted out. It was none other than Elsa, and she looked pretty freaked out by this. She walked towards them as she scolded Courtney, most of all, "You mustn't read from the book!"

Courtney looked at her confused, and then suddenly, a strange rumbling was heard from outside. The whole house shook as a rumbling invisible force field shook the house. Everyone staggered a little as they tried to make sense of it. And then suddenly, the lights started to burst from overloading of power. This caused everyone to get startled as they jumped in fright.

Alex was busy taking pictures of the weird phenomena as they all looked around. Everything had settled down now, but then suddenly, the floors under their feet, and through the cracks, a bright green light was showing. But that only startled them all, but what they saw then, really freaked them out. Through the cracks of light, strange shadows were forming up, flying all over beneath the floorboards. The kids all screamed and yelled in fright as they saw this; and then the shadows moaned, cackled, or screamed like they were in agony or just hungry for something. And then finally, when the screams and howls of whatever it was beneath them got to the point of getting louder, they stopped, the floor stopped shaking, and the lights blew out.

Everyone just stood there, slightly freaked out, and standing still in ridiculous poses. Alex held his camera high, almost looking like he was taking pictures of the ceiling. Elsa was just standing there, frozen as a stiff board. But the funniest part was with Justin, as he stood there, holding on to Courtney who was holding on to him for dear life; almost like they were trying to keep warm. And Max was huddled with them as well.

As soon as the noise stopped, they returned to normal, but looked pretty freaked out. Courtney, slightly embarrassed for hugging Justin, looked up to him and everyone else as she asked, "What just happened?"

Max just looked up to his sister, as the put his pirate hat back on and answered, "A virgin….read the book out loud."

**Outside**

The strange noises and lights did not go unknown as someone stood out in the shadows of the town's Halloween night. Revolta stood outside the store, looking at the window to where the library observatory was located. She smirked evilly, knowing full well that the girl had read her book for her. And then she whispered to herself, "And now…the real fun begins.", and then like a puff of smoke, she dissolved into the wind as black vapor, waiting for events she knew would come.

**Next Chapter: New Friends Made, Secrets Revealed**


	6. New Friends Made

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: New Friends Made; Secrets Revealed**

* * *

**Afterwards**

**Keller Household**

**Bathroom**

* * *

In the bathroom the lights were on, the door was locked and a pile of gothic clothing was on the ground next to the sink and cabinet. In a glass shower booth connected to the bathtub, a slender shadow was seen leaning near the shower heard, letting the water hit the figure. After what felt like a few minutes, the water stopped as the door opened slightly to grab one of the white towels nearby.

The door opened up and out stepped Courtney, wrapped in the towel she had gotten. She took another towel and dried her hair off as she stepped towards the mirror. At this point, she looked a little gloom for wear, considering what had happened at her little midnight 'book meeting'.

* * *

_After the mysterious lighting and tumbling show, everyone was a little shaken up by what had just happened. Justin and Courtney were a little freaked out by what had just happened, as was Max and Alex. Elsa, on the other hand, looked at Courtney, with a mixture of panic and anger. She then pointed out, "What did you do?"_

"_Me?", Courtney asked, protesting, "I didn't do anything; I was just reading out loud!"_

"_Exactly!", Elsa protested as she pointed to __the Book of Goosebumps__, "You read aloud… From. That. Book!"_

_Justin, feeling a little uneasy, stepped up as he asked, "What… does reading out of that book have to do anything about all of this?"_

_Realizing what she was about to say out, she shook her head as she stated, "N-Nothing! Just get out of here."_

"_But, Elsa…", Courtney continued._

"_Get out!", Elsa shouted, pointing the way out of there. _

_And they were about to do so, but Courtney looked at the Goosebumps Book for a moment. It was only for a few seconds, but she felt compelled by the book's mysterious nature and power. She didn't understand it, but there was a strange hold on her; as if it were calling her. Until finally, as soon as Max started to leave, and Elsa had her back turned sharply, Courtney grabbed the book and hastening stuffed it in her backpack. _

_As soon as she left with her back turned, Elsa followed behind her, not even noticing that the book was taken from the shelf._

* * *

Courtney groaned at the memory of stealing that book from the place that she worked at as she looked at the fogged up mirror. Completely fogged up and obscuring her reflection; she wiped away a bit of the misty dew that clung to the glass. She groaned as she leaned on the bathroom sink counter and rested her forehead on the mirror.

She closed her eyes as she groaned in self-loathing, "Great. I've officially become a criminal. Even worse… a book criminal in my own workplace."

The then got away from the mirror as she scratched the back of her head, thinking on what to do or how to explain to Stranger or Elsa on what she did. But then, her train of thought stopped as she felt something on the back of her head. She picked at it, until finally she pulled something out and brought it up in front. It was a small teardrop-sized sapphire gem with six insect-shaped legs.

Courtney looked at it with a raised eyebrow in trying to figure out what it was, "What the…? When did I get this?" Shaking her head on it, she set it on the bathroom counter near the toothpaste as she sighed, "Probably something of Priscilla's. Guess she planted it on me like some sort of bu…"

But then she stopped as she jumped back and gasped at what she saw. Her heart nearly leapt into her throat as she saw someone else in her reflection, placing their hands on her bare shoulders. It was the same woman that she had bumped into when she had gotten out of school earlier today. The woman leaned in next to her neck, and then gently licked it, sending a shiver down Courtney's spine. And then suddenly… the woman opened her mouth, showing a mouth of jagged sharp and inhuman teeth as she roared in an animalistic shriek as she lunged at her neck.

"AAAAAAAH!", Courtney screamed as she jumped back into the wall. She closed her eyes as she whimpered slightly as she slid to the ground, bringing her knees close to her chest. After a few seconds, Courtney opened her eyes as she got back on her feet, shaking with a small touch of fear. She then looked back into the mirror, only to see her reflection and hers alone.

She sighed in relief as she assumed it was a hallucination. But then jumped again as the bathroom door opened… only to sigh again in relief as she saw it was only Max. He saw the state her sister was in as he asked, "Courtney? Something wrong?"

Not wanting to freak her brother out, she fibbed a little, "I just… saw a cockroach." She shook her head as she reassured him, "It was nothing, Max. look, we've had a trying and bizarre night back at the Halloween Store. The last thing we need is more nightmares." She then walked on over to where her black lace nightgown.

But before she reached it, she looked to Max as she asked, "Just out of curiosity, how long were you at the door?"

Max sheepishly shrugged and smiled as he answered, "Not long. I was just wondering… well, seeing as how I was a little freaked out back at the store…", He then gave her a puppy-dog look in his eyes as he pleadingly asked, "Could I _please _sleep with you? Just for tonight, I promise. Pleeeaaassse?"

"Max… haven't you grown out of that phase yet?", Courtney asked him with her hands on her hips. But then sighed as she saw the puppy-dog look on her brother's face. She rolled her eyes back in defeat as she shrugged and sighed, "Ugh. Can those eyes get any bigger?" She then half-smiled as she nodded, "Okay, just for tonight." And then shoed him away as she shot back, "Now close the door and wait in my room. Unless you want to stay and get an eyeful on what puberty is for a teenage girl."

Thinking on that, Max shook his head, "I'll wait in your room, sis.", and then closed the door.

* * *

**Later On**

**Courtney's Room**

* * *

Courtney, now fully dressed in her nightgown, walked into the room as she saw Max on the bed. As she closed the door and still had on the lamp, he noticed he wasn't too happy about something. Courtney raised an eyebrow at this, but then saw as he sat on the bed, Indian style, and held up the Book of Goosebumps. Courtney gulped at that as she stated, "Max… I have a really good reason for that."

"You stole it, Courtney.", Max stated as he pointed out.

Courtney raised her hands up in defense as she stated, "No… it's borrowed without permission." And then she pointed out as she walked towards the bed as she sat down, "But! I have every intention of returning the book back to the store. So it's just a slightly misunderstanding."

Max seemed to nod at that, but then bluntly looked to his sister and asked, "You're gonna lose your job, aren't you?"

Courtney nodded as she scooted over to Max, and bluntly responded, "Oh, I'm pretty sure I will."

A small silence fell the room as the two siblings sat side-by-side, as the Halloween night was drifting by. Finally, Max looked to his sister as he asked, "You wanna read the rest of the book?"

After a moment of silence, Courtney finally shrugged, "Yeah, alright." The two then got under the covers as Max scooted up to Courtney, who took the book and placed it in her lap. Undoing the belt strap that held the book closed, Courtney opened the book once again, getting a small breeze of wind from outside, making an eerie whistling sound. Then, all of a sudden, they heard a rustling sound; almost as if something was crawling up the walls on the inside of it.

The two siblings huddled together as Courtney grabbed the nearest flashlight, and Max threw the covers over them. Switching on the flashlight, the two looked to each other as Max stated, "This stuff seems to happen a lot only when you open that book."

Courtney nodded as she held the book in front of them, "Yeah. This thing's a complete foolproof eerie magnet."

Nodding to that, Max turned his attention back to the book as he asked, "So what does it say after the weird poem?"

Courtney turned the page after the First Passage, and came across something else. It appeared to be a letter, written by the author, and it was pretty lengthily. Wanting to read it out loud, she grimaced, remembering what happened the last time she read something out loud. She shook her head as she looked to her younger brother and suggested, "Maybe we should read this silently."

Max nodded and the two huddled together around the book as they silently read the letter together…

* * *

_Dear Reader,_

_What you now hold in your hands is the culmination of my life as well as my colleagues' work. And you will soon see, as I and my friends have, that there are both horrifying, yet fantastical, creatures living amongst us in plain sight every day, and in the shadows of the night._

_This book will give you the tools, knowledge, and techniques needed to lift the veil that these creatures have hidden themselves behind. And also the means to defend yourself from some of the creatures that will try to do you harm. Once you have this sight and knowledge of the World Hidden in the Shadows, you will never see things the same way again._

_But be forewarned, Reader, the secrets you're about to learn, have been kept secret for eons. Secrets that many of the realms of shadows would prefer to stay hidden. The creatures you will soon meet are a sight, and a horror, to behold. Some… wish to remain hidden; others will undoubt will not wish to be hidden, and will seek to do humans or all of mankind harm. But overtime, and much learning, there are creatures that can be trusted by man._

_Some that I have garnered trust with; and in time… some I am happy to report… I now call friends._

_But a rare many or few… are quite frankly… are to be feared. The Darker Forces of the Realm of Shadows are in service to an unknown Monster Witch… calling herself Revolta, whom I've never seen or came into contact with. And with much time, I have learned that the Monster Witch has sought out the Book that I have written, which you are now reading._

_This book is not only a field guide to the hidden world of those that go Bump in the Night… but also a prison for the many creatures that would do harm to all of Mankind. The secrets written and the monsters imprisoned in this tome are powerful. More powerful than even I was aware; never before has this much knowledge and power of the Hidden World of the Night been assembled in one tome._

_And so, Reader, I implore you to use this information to capture the creatures that may have escaped if the First Passage of this book are read aloud. For the Monster Witch, Revolta, and her minions seeks out this book with relentless persistence. If she were to gain this book, I can assure you she would use the monsters and knowledge to spread the Armies of Darkness all over the globe, dooming all of mankind into Eternal Darkness._

_She can assume any form or shape to her delight, but her primary and true forms have always been a mystery to those who are her enemies. You must constantly be on your guard. I deeply fear that the more I learn, the more I place everyone around m, as well in greater danger._

_And so, Reader, I beseech you. Beware…._

_R. L. Stine_

* * *

The two siblings looked to each other in confusion on this passage. They didn't know if it was some kind of sales gimmick to the book, or the crazy delusional writings of a writer who went into seclusion and was trying to reach past his deadline. But before they went into anything else, they heard a rustling coming from the bookshelf as they closed the book hard.

They slowly lifted the covers from their faces as Max looked to his sister and asked quietly, "Did you hear something?"

Courtney nodded as she answered in a whispered tone, "Yeah.", she pointed at the bookshelves, "It came from over there."

Max brought up the flashlight as he switched it on and shined on over to the bookshelf. It scanned the area, trying to find the source of the rustling, but all it came out with was just a plain bookshelf. Suddenly, they heard the rustling coming from the desk as Max shined it towards the desk. But as usual from the bookshelf, nothing was there at all as the light scanned all over the desk, even at the computer and keyboard.

CRASH!

Suddenly, the two jumped as they heard the noise coming from the closet as Courtney took the flashlight. She immediately shined it near the closet door… which was found to be opened. As she shined it in, she caught sight of a strange spectacle that looked right back at her. It was only a split second, but what looked at her was only blurred when the light hit it, but she caught a glimpse of a pair of big shining green eyes, for only a few seconds, but that was enough to get both Courtney and Max to scream out a little

and then the eyes scurried back into the shadows, and under Courtney's bed. The two screamed for only a few seconds until Courtney calmed down a little, calming her brother down, "Max! Stay calm; it went under the bed."

"Th-Then it's some kind of monster!", Max whined out.

Courtney shook her head as she reached over to the left side of the bed, "No, no. Its eyes reflected off the light; that usually happens with a Cat's eyes, a fox's, or a raccoon's." And then grabbed a nearby statuette of the Crow figurine.

Max whimpered as he held the flashlight again, "It was too fast to be either one of those things, Courtney." And then whimpered more as he saw his sister get off the bed, "Courtney!"

Courtney then held out her free hand as she asked, "Can you give me the flashlight?" Seeing him hesitate, she asked again, "Max. The flashlight?" Finally, Max relinquished the flashlight to her as she took it, and knelt down to look under the bed. As soon as she did, she flashed her torch under it to see what had scurried under her bed…

… nothing…

Confused by all of this, she turned off her flashlight as she got up. She then sat on the bed as Max asked her, spotting her confusion, "Courtney? What? What did you see?"

Courtney just shrugged, completely clueless as to what she was trying to find and just answered, "Nothing."

The two got back under the covers and tried to find comfort and solace with each other. And as the two siblings finally fell fast asleep, under the darkness of the bed, spied out two night-vision big eyeballs looking around the room.

* * *

**The Next Morning**

* * *

In the kitchen, Max and Courtney, both cleaned up and dressed for the day, weren't exactly the lively bunch this morning. The two of them were worse for wear and leaning at the table; it was pretty evident that the two didn't get much sleep at all last night. After what they saw running under Courtney's bed, anyone would doubt if they could go to sleep. The cold shower that Courtney took, or the Reese's Puffs cereal he was groggily eating at this point, didn't do either one a good amount of help.

And at that moment, walking into the room, with a load of laundry, was their mother. She stopped as she placed the laundry basket nearby, and raised an eyebrow at her half-asleep kids, "Didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, eh? Courtney? Were you telling ghost stories again tot your brother? You know that after that, you'll both be staying up late."

Not getting a response at the half-drowsy duo, she shrugged as she then asked, "Okay, you guys want to explain to me why I found the socks that were in the dryer all slimy and such?"

Courtney groaned a little as she turned towards where her mother was standing, "Slimy socks? Mom, what are you talking about?"

Mrs. Keller pulled out a slimy sock from the laundry basket as she stated, "I found last night's clean laundry, missing all the socks from the dryer. I looked around only to find all of them piled up in the tower." And then she rubbed it in her hand, and it made a squishing sound as she held it up in disgust, "And the worst part about it… they were all covered in some kind of saliva-ish slime. It's almost as if someone was sucking on them like a Popsicle."

It was then that Courtney noticed the scowling look her mother was giving her. She knew that look better than anyone or anywhere; it was the look she gave her when she did some kind of prank that she found out about. At that realization, Courtney woke up a little as she stood up and pleadingly stated, "Oh, you think I did it?"

"Well, it was Halloween last night, and you do choose trick over treat, Honey.", Mrs. Keller stated as she placed her hands on her hips, "And this just wreaks of your pranking shenanigans."

"But, Mom…", Max finally spoke up, seeing as how he was slowly waking up as he yawned, "I was with Courtney last night in her room. We stayed in there, huddled together with a flashlight."

Courtney nodded as she suggested, "Yeah. Maybe… it was some kind of raccoon."

Mrs. Keller looked at the two, wondering if she should believe them on this. But then seeing the looks on their faces, meant that they were telling the truth. She sighed as she stated, "Alright, I believe you…_ this_ time." And then she grabbed the laundry basket as she stated, "But I'm gonna figure out what's going on here sooner or later. Now get ready, you two. I'm gonna drop you both off at your schools later on." And then walked off, taking the laundry load back to the garage and into the Washing Machine.

As soon as their mother left, the two siblings looked to each other in confusion. Then Max asked his big sister, "Do you think that whatever was in your room last night did that?"

"How is that even possible, Max?", Courtney asked, equally confused as he was, "We were up all night and we didn't even hear the door open."

"Then what was it?", Max asked, feeling a little scared.

Courtney thought about it for the moment, and then looked at her book bag. She remembered that she had stuffed the Book of Goosebumps in there; she had remembered that the author, R.L. Stine, that the book was a compendium of the Realm of Shadows, the Monster World. Maybe there was something in there that could point out to what was causing the strange things in her house.

* * *

**Amityville Junior High**

**Lunchtime**

* * *

Everyone was walking or standing around, commuting with each other, or the usual deal; getting their lunches and/or scarfing down their food. As everyone was in their private little world, Courtney was in her private one. Slightly eating her lunch, which was spaghetti, she currently was looking over a page in the Book of Goosebumps. She was so buried into it, that she didn't notice someone sitting parallel to her, until he spoke up…

"Courtney.", she immediately pulled herself out of the book to look and see it was Justin. He looked a little concerned for her as he asked, "You okay? You barely spoke a word during English Literature, or even at your locker."

Courtney just shook her head as she responded, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little tired and spacing out." She rubbed her eyes a little as she yawned, "Me and Max didn't get much sleep last night."

Justin nodded as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Same here. After the lightshow in the store, I barely had any sleep. I kept getting nightmares about the floor under me opening up and trying to eat me." It was then that he noticed the book that Courtney had; recognizing it, he asked her, "Isn't that book a no-selling item?" Courtney nodded, but then he asked, "Didn't your co-worker say you weren't supposed to read it?"

"Not out loud.", Courtney pointed out as she tried to put herself in the right, "And I'm just borrowing the book. Borrowing…. ", and then coughed the last part, "…without permission."

After catching that last part, Justin went bug-eyed at that as he asked, "You sto…", but then silenced himself as he whispered to her, "You stole that from the store?"

"Well, I didn't mean to.", Courtney hushed him as she explained, "For some odd reason I was just drawn to it, and just ended up taking it with me."

"You guys owe me a new photo shot.", someone suddenly came over, sitting next to Justin and waving photos. It was the school photographer, Alex, and he wasn't looking too happy as he pt the photos in front of them. They were all blurred and deformed, almost looking like there were ghosts floating around. He then stated, "As soon as I got home, I developed these last night, and when they were done, I found they were like this." He then pointed out, "Now… I gotta go over to the Haunted Halloween Mansion again and take some more photos."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds very nice.", Courtney stated, not interested in what he was talking about and turned to Justin, "Justin, maybe you can help me with this. Does the word 'Appease' mean 'to make nice' or something?"

"Yeah, pretty much.", Justin answered but then asked, "Why do you ask?"

"Because something in my house freaked me and my brother out when we went to bed. And then hid itself under my bed, then suddenly disappeared without leaving a trail or trace of itself. And… it slobbered all over the socks like they were lollipops." She then turned the book over until it faced Justin and Alex as she pointed out, "I think it could have been a Boggart."

"A bogard?", Alex asked, not buying this.

Courtney shook her head as she pointed to the illustration of a creature that looked like some sort of similitude of a Pokemon. She then spoke out the information in the book as she stated, "A Boggart, or Boogey Monster in English translation, is a small shape-shifting creature that, through a defense mechanism similar to a skunk spray or an armadillo's shell, will take on the form of its intended victim's worst fear. It generally likes to hide in dark, enclosed places, like a closet, cupboards, drawers, hollow trees, or even under the beds. Though it can venture out in the daylight, though not many are seen in the day.

"Very few see what a Boggart's true form looks like, or if it even has a form. However, a Boggart can create its own form by mix-and-matching different creature's forms into one different shape. Though when angered, this 'visual form' becomes distorted and more frightening, making it more to its monster nature. Though often labeled as monsters, they are more than mere mischief makers; they are actually afraid of humans more than humans are afraid of them. Though there are actually a few that befriend humans if appeased and befriended right. Their diet consists mainly of dust and lint from clothing, mainly socks are considered dessert and appeasing food in this case.", Courtney finished and looked to the boys.

Both Justin and Alex looked at her, slightly uncertain about all of this. Justin looked at her, like she was stressing a little, and Alex… well Alex looked at her like she had lost her mind. Trying to understand this little situation, Justin asked silently, "And… you think… that a Boggart… or Boogey Monster… is in your house?"

"Well, there'd better be!", Courtney shot out as she pointed to the book, "Because what just happened at my house last night, is exactly what the book says would happen if a Boggart sets residence inside the house."

"I knew you were weird when Justin said you worked in a Halloween store.", Alex stated as he tapped his finger on the table, "But now I think you're completely insane."

Courtney frowned as she closed the book hard and fast as she glared at the two and dared, "Okay, how's this? After school; my place. We go there, we lure the Boogey Monster out, and then we'll see who's crazy." She then looked to Alex as she enticed him, "And who knows… you might get the first photo-shot ever of a Boggart, caught on film."

The boys were left there, wondering about this, but this didn't go unnoticed. Nearby at the Jock's table, none there than Priscilla had overheard the conversation by the three losers. At first, she thought the new girl had lost her mind, but after hearing about the Boogey Monster… she had an idea on getting back at Keller.

* * *

**Keller Household**

* * *

After school, the three teens had made it back to Courtney's house immediately as soon as they could. Using Justin's dune buggy, they had gotten there faster than Mrs. Keller could as it was time to pick up Max. Alex even brought his camera as they entered the house and went to Courtney's room, hoping to catch the Boggart, or Boogey Monster.

Justin and Alex were waiting for Courtney to get back into the room, as soon as she left to get something. She then came in back into the room, and placed what appeared to be gray clumps of some material. She then stood next to the boys as she pointed out, "Lint from the dryer's vent. It should work the same way as sock lint."

Then the teens sat down, and waited for the little supposed Boogey Monster to appear before them. a few hours past, as the three teens were asleep due to waiting for the creature to appear. Justin was leaning on the wall, with Courtney snuggled up to him wit her head on his shoulder, and Alex just sitting up, with his camera in hand, and dozing off every few seconds.

It was only a few seconds later, that a small munching sound was heard. The three finally stirred awake from their boredom slumber and heard the munching. Slowly and making sure not to startle whatever was making that sound, they moved towards the bed to where the lint was placed. As soon as they were at the edge of the bed, they heard the munching and humming sounds of someone enjoying or savoring their meal.

The voice called out as it moaned in delight, "Mmmmhmhmhmhmhmhmhm. This is good. Mmm! Who knew humans could extract lint like this."

The teens looked up at the edge of the bed, and had a sight to behold. Crouched on the bed was a small creature of peculiar design to it. It was a small cute and fluffy creature, standing about 1'04 in height, with a koala-like body, and colored gray and purple. Its small hind feet had three purple bone protrusion toes, as well on its small hands four purple bone protrusions at the tip of its small stubby fingers. The rings around its eyes were purple and its underbelly, palms, and bottom of its feet were also purple. It had cat-like ears with purple tips on them, big dark green eyes, and a small cat-like nose. It looked like it was part koala due to its fluffy forearms and small hands, but it was evident that it was also part raccoon. But the monster giveaway was that it had four fluffy raccoon tails striped gray and purple.

The three teens watched it as it currently continued to munch on the lint. Courtney smiled at this, seeing such a creature exist. Justin's jaw was hanging open considering what he saw shouldn't even exist; though Courtney looked over to him and gently closed his jaw back up again. Alex, on the other hand, was looking at the photo scoop of the decade… maybe even the century. He slowly lifted his camera up, aimed at the creature until it was in focused and got the perfect shot…. And SHAP AND FLASH!

The Boogey Monster stopped what he was doing and turned sharply to where the teens were. It realized he had been spotted and jumped back screaming, "AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!", the three teens shouted back as they too jumped back on their butts as they scooted away. But then they saw that suddenly, the little Boogey Monster vanished in front of their eyes, and then scurried around Courtney's room leaving behind a visible trail. Even though it may have vanished, it was pretty obvious it scurried on over to Courtney's desk, when it knocked over a few books off the desk.

Courtney immediate got back up and went over to her bed as she scooped up a little bit of the remaining lint. She gently walked over as she held out the lint, "I'm sorry if we scared you. Here, have some lint."

"I know I shouldn't, but since you insist.", the Boggart muttered as he took the lint from Kelsey's hand and began to nibble at it, while still invisible.

As the little creature still began to eat at the lint, the boys had rejoined with Courtney. Still slightly amazed at what he was looking at, Justin finally asked out loud, "H-How are you doing that? I mean, why can't we see you now?"

"First of which, the name's Oogie.", the Boggart spoke out, until he finally turned visible again as he pointed to the kids, "Now you see me, now you don't. It only happens when _we_ want you to see us."

"We?", Courtney asked, feeling a little excited by all this, "As in there's more than one Boggart in the world?"

Oogie sighed as his small shoulders slouched over as he pointed out to her, "Boogey Monster. We prefer to be called Boogey Monsters." And then pointed to himself, "And I'd prefer it if you'd call me by my name. Oogie."

Courtney smiled at this as she ran back over to her book bag. She then took out the Book of Goosebumps as she walked on back over to the two boys and Oogie as she held out the book, "Then the author in this story was telling the truth about you."

It was then, that only when Oogie spotted the book in Courtney's hands, he flipped out. He threw the lint in the air as he screamed out, "AAAAH! The Book, the Book!" He then scurried off the desk on all fours and hopped on the bed, mumbling in a panicky tone, "Oh no, oh no, oh no! The Book's been read aloud; she'll find it! I mean, I know it was supposedly read aloud. I mean, how you think I'm outta the book! Those three said they'd keep it safe; the Author, the kid, and the Gestalt! They said they'd make sure no one would read the Book! They failed, failed, FAILED!"

And then he turned sharply to the teens, glaring at Courtney, and then his voice went from a chipper tone to a venomous angry tone as his eyes suddenly turned yellow, while a black pupil resembling an upside-down comma shot up as he pointed to her, "But YOU!" And then it started to happen; the little Boogey Monster, Oogie, was metamorphing in front of them all as he ranted in a snarling garbled voice, "You found it, you opened it, read the first passage out loud… and then…. STOLE IT!"

And now in front of them all, his alternate form was shown. His fur had now changed from gray and purple, to black and red. He remained at the height of 1'04 feet in height, and still retained a raccoon/koala shape to himself, but some things had changed. His toes and fingers reverted from small smooth purple bone bumps, to blood red velociraptor sickle claws. And from under his arms, sprout out a second pair of arms with only three clawed digits on them. his underbelly, eye rings, and the tip of his ears all changed to the color red as well, with its fur sticking up like a cat's would, and in his mouth came sharp jagged yellow teeth. On top of his head, two little red horns stuck out, and his ears became sharp as well. His four fluffy raccoon tails changed color from gray and purple to black and red, and at the end of the four tails, four vicious looking mouths made from the hair, began to form as they snaked all around the furball, snapping at the teens and grabbing one of the pillows, tearing it apart.

Oogie snarled at the teens as he scurried over to the bookshelf, throwing books at them, as he yelled out, "TWITS! IDIOTS! HORMONALLY CHALLEGED DOPES! STINE PUT A NOTE ON THE FIRST PAGE! IT SAYS DON'T READ THE FIRST PASSAGE ALOUD! WHY DO YA THINK HE PUT IT THERE? FOR GIGGLES? WHY WOULD A NOTE BE PUT THERE… IF NO ONE'S GONNA READ THE NOTE?"

The three teens ducked near the bed, as Justin looked to Courtney, and frantically suggested, "We need to calm him down, or he's gonna tear the whole room apart!"

Courtney nodded, "Noted." And then she carefully got up as Oogie was still in 'Berserker Mode' and reached out for a scoop of the lint. She then stood up as she calmly said to him, "Here! Have some lint." And threw it at his feet as Oogie looked at her.

He shouted to the girl, "NO I DON'T WANT YOUR STINKIN' LINT!" But he picked it up anyway and began to eat at it. And as he did, he quickly reverted back to his old cute and fluffy self again as he sat on two of his four tails as a makeshift pillow chair and licked his stubby digits, "MmmhmhmhmMmm. That is good lint there. Denim lint is the best."

As the boys got back up, Alex just shook his head at that as he stated, "Now that's just messed up."

"And my mom told me I had anger issues when I was little.", Courtney stated.

Just then, they all heard the doorbell ringing and immediately Courtney bolted out of the room. She scurried down the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her as the doorbell rang again. As soon as she got to the door, she opened it, and was greeted by an all-too-familiar face. Elsa, and she didn't look too happy as Justin and Alex ran in to see this.

Courtney gulped as she nervously smiled, "Elsa! Wow! What a… what a surprise to see you here. Hey, you want to come in? I mean, we could…"

"Come with me. All of you; back to the Halloween Store.", Elsa bluntly stated as she crossed her arms, talking in a tone that said 'I don't take no for an answer'. She then pointed to Courtney, "And take the book with you; Mr. Stranger would like to have a word with you in particular."

"Hey, what's goin' on down there?", Oogie asked as he came scurrying down the room and slid to a halt next to Courtney's feet. And then gulped as he looked up and saw someone in particular that he remembered, "Oh! It's you! Well… funny small world we're all livin' in today, isn't it? Like the new look you've got; clothing's a lot better than bandages and a cloak."

Courtney, Justin, and Alex gulped a little at this slight intervention and looked back to Elsa. However, the reaction wasn't anything that they would expect; unlike they did, with a scream like they had reacted to Oogie, Elsa was calm and composed as she raised an eyebrow at him. And finally, she nodded to outside, "And take the furball with you."

* * *

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

* * *

After a drive to the store, thanks to Justin's Dune Buggy, which could take four kids and one extra furball, they had made it safely to the Store again. As they all entered the Store, Courtney followed after Elsa who led the way. With her was the Book in her book bag, and surprisingly Oogie who was perched on her right shoulder, gently grasping on to her head for balance. The two boys were once again with her, with Justin keeping an eye on Courtney, and Alex, taking pictures of anything creepy as usual.

They were already on the second floor as they made their way to the Antiquities Wing. As they traversed into the center of the dark relic-filled room, they saw a round table of sort with rune markings on it. And sitting in the far corner of the table, was none other than John Stranger as he rested his arms on the table with his cane at his side. As soon as everyone was seated, and Oogie plopping himself between Justin and Courtney, and Alex setting down his camera, Elsa sat near Stranger as everyone was present.

After a moment of silence, Stranger spoke up as he leaned towards Courtney's direction, "You know… there was a page in the book… with a warning label on it, saying: Do Not Read Aloud. And followed by it a nice little poem to it." He then leaned back as he asked, "I don't suppose you know what you've done last night on Halloween?" After getting no response but only nervous looks, Stranger sighed as he nodded, "Very well then… there's only one question I want answered from all of you." The kids were a little tense by this, waiting whatever Stranger was about to ask, and nearly jumped as he asked it, "Thin or Stuffed?"

The teens, including Elsa, and Oogie looked confused by that question. Until finally, Justin asked, "Wha?"

And then Stranger pulled out a cell phone as he held it up, "Thin or Stuffed? What I need to tell you is very important… but also very long. To that end, I'm ordering pizza for lunch and dinner, and I would like to know… Thin or Stuff crust?"

* * *

**Thirty-Five Minutes Later**

* * *

At the table now were four pizza boxes and two bottles of Diet Orange Soda. Currently everyone had settled down after a few slices were stuffed, and that was when Stranger began his explanation of the situation. Stranger took a sip of a cup of soda as he placed it down as he stated, "I'm afraid, Mrs. Keller… you know too much now when you read that book. Considering now that your lives… all of your lives, are in danger."

Courtney looked a little confused by that as she asked, "Wait! What do you mean dangerous?"

Stranger pointed to the book as he explained, "You've already read the passage after the first one. Then you would know that the book isn't just a field guide to the Strange and Unusual. This book… is also a prison, or it was. It held within its pages the most dangerous and terrifying creatures that had ever existed in our nightmares. This book was also the life's work of my oldest friend, R. L. Stine. We, along with Elsa, had spent years hunting all over the globe for these creatures, studying their ways and inner machinations; finding their strengths and weaknesses, and trapping them within the pages of this book."

"Why would you do something like that?", Justin asked, becoming intrigued by the story.

"We were asked by a woman who had given us the book, named Volta.", Stranger sighed, "Later on we had learned that her real name and identity was Revolta, the Monster Witch." He had told them the rest of the story as Elsa looked pained on what happened next, "On the night we had finished filling the book's pages, we were to meet with her to return to America, in order to hide the book. However, it was when she had revealed her true self, did we learn what we had done, by putting all those secrets and creatures into one tome. A book that Revolta would use to enslave the Realm of Shadows, and then nothing could stop her, not even humans, from becoming the most powerful creature in the world would ever know." He then sighed in defeat as he finished, "We did everything we could to keep it from her… even at the cost of our lives."

Then Elsa turned sharply to Courtney as she stated, "And now, because of you, everything we tried so hard to keep secret and hidden from her is now down the tube."

"Okay, how was I supposed to know that the book would unleash monsters out like that?", Courtney shouted out as she got up from her seat, "I thought it was just some goofy sales gimmick!"

Ignoring his friend's outburst, Justin then asked, "But you guys can catch them again? Can't you?"

Stranger shook his head as he explained, "The Book won't allow me to do it anymore.", and then he pointed to Courtney, "But it'll let her."

Courtney as well as everyone else looked surprised by this as she pointed to herself in denial and asked, "M-Me? Why me? I'm… I'm nothing special."

Stranger shook his head as he explained, "The Book chose me as its keeper, as it chose you." He explained to her that since the book was charmed and became a prison for the monsters that Stranger had mentioned, the energies within it had given it a developed consciousness of its own, in choosing who would protect it. Stranger then pointed out, "You released the creatures out of Pandora's Book… now you must return them to it before Revolta gets to them first."

But then Courtney angrily shot back, "But you gave me the Key to the Book, so shouldn't it be your responsibility?"

Stranger shook his head as he stated, "As I said before, the Book chose you. It beckoned you here from the start."

"It did?", Alex asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl in question.

"It did not!", Courtney shot back.

Stranger nodded, "Yes, it did. It was your desire to scare people that got the book's attention." He then leaned back as he stated, "That's how I was chosen; I was like you once. I scared people out the sheer fun of that. Plus, it was a fun way of getting even." He then sighed, "It was either you or some valley girl at your high school. The obvious winner was you."

The room was silent as the obvious truth was sinking in out of all of this. However, that noise was broken as Courtney grabbed her book bag, "Well, I don't want the door prize." And then stormed off, obviously heading for home.

Justin got up as he apologized, "Sorry about that.", and tried to catch up to Courtney.

"Hey man, I'm gettin' outta here.", Alex stated, already freaked out enough as it was, "I'm just a photographer with nothing to do with all of this." And then left as well.

Stranger and Elsa were left there, looking at the retreating folks as the Book was left with them. Then they turned their attention to the Boogey Monster, Oogie, who was still there. He gulped slightly as he pointed to the retreating teens, "Hey, don't look at me! I'm with them." And then jumped off the table as he scurried after them all.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.1**


	7. The Haunted Mask pt1

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.1**

* * *

**Keller Household**

* * *

It was sooner or later that after Courtney had gotten back to the house that Mrs. Keller had pulled in the driveway. She opened the doors and Max came busting right out, running to the front door. After she had closed the doors and locked the car up, Mrs. Keller, who was more reserved of her energy, walked casually towards the front door. She then unlocked the door, letting in an eager Max to greet his sister. She was about to go inside, when she stopped and noticed something placed next to the doorway.

She knelt down and picked it up; a small paper bag package that was wrapped around in packaging tape. She looked at it with a raised and confused eyebrow as she walked on in and closed the front door. As far as she could tell there was no address or returning address on it at all. She walked into the kitchen and withdrew a pair of scissors from the counter drawers. She then cut through the bag until it was fully opened up and pulled out what was inside the package.

Mrs. Keller cringed in fright a little as she saw what she pulled out and was now holding in her hands. It was a Halloween mask, a full face mask that went to the neck and collar area. The mask was bald with sickly yellow green skin and more of a male face than any. It had a slight protrusion on the crown of the skull, the lips were curled up as it exposed thin, yet sharp yellow teeth, and its eyes were permanently stuck in an angered sneer, almost as if the mask was glaring at whoever the empty eyehole sockets looked at. But the mask was too horrifying to even be considered a mask at all… almost like a real face in some way.

Mrs. Keller gulped at this as she set her purse and keys down, "I think I'll go give this to Courtney. She's into this sort of stuff." And just waltzed on out of the kitchen and towards the stairway to her daughter's room.

* * *

**Courtney's Room**

* * *

In her room, Courtney was laying down on her bed, with her head resting on her pillow held by her right arm. Her left hand was resting on her stomach with a black I-Pod held in it. She was currently listening to a song called Choke, done by a band called Hybrid, but it wasn't doing much good for her sour attitude. A while ago back at the Halloween Store, she had been charged, unfairly, with the sole duty of becoming a Monster Hunter… and all for a book that she _had_ to read out loud all because she had to poke fun at it.

She sighed from all that as she sat up, and pulled out the earphones, mumbling, "Hunting monsters? Sheesh." And then plopped back on her bed as she looked up at the ceiling, "And I thought PMS was tough for a teenage girl."

Oogie, who had followed her home, was sitting in a makeshift chair out of his four tails. He was positioned near her feet as he nibbled at the leftover lint that was left on the bed as he overheard Courtney's ramblings.

He then finally looked over to Courtney and asked unflappably, "What's the big deal? So ya practically doomed the world by releasing the most horrible ghouls, monsters, and ghosts that ever set forward to rid the world of the living or scare them all silly. And ya practically refused to take responsibility in hunting and trapping them all back in the Book again. If you're so hung up on it, why not just take the job?"

Courtney groaned some more as she got up and looked to Oogie, "Because that would be beyond weird for me right now." She hissed as she bent forward and buried her hands in her face as she groaned, "Ugh! My family and I just moved into town a few weeks ago, and now I'm been thrown in some kind of bad B-Movie fiasco," then looked down at the current furball as she mumbled, "And to make matters worse… I'm loading all my frustrations and problems with a creature… that shouldn't even exist."

Oogie shrugged carefree as he smirked, "Well sorry, Courtney. But while your friend and boyfriend are out, I'm all you've got at the moment."

Courtney sat straight up as she looked at the Boogey Monster and asked with an irritated look on her face, "What do you mean by boyfriend? And who are you talking about?"

Oogie then got off his makeshift chair as his tails curved back out as he wobbled over to her, "I'm talkin' about that brown-haired guy. You know, what's his name, uh… James? Johnson? Junior?"

"Justin?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah, that's the one," Oogie stated as he scurried over to Courtney's side as he pointed out, "You two seemed kind of sweet on each other."

Courtney just groaned as she buried her face in her hand out of needed frustration, leaving Oogie confused by this scene with a tilted head and a lowered right ear. This was the last thing she needed right now was to talk about her supposed love life, which was non-existent and should remain that way.

She groaned as she finally mumbled, "He's not my boyfriend; not even close to being my friend at all. He's just some mechanical otaku that just hangs around me. For no good reason at all."

KNOCK! KNOCK!

Courtney shot up from her bed, realization someone was knocking at her door. She looked to Oogie as she shoed him away, signaling him to hide under the bed, which he did as he scurried in a hastened speed, and shot under the bed. The last thing she needed now was for someone to find out that she had an actual boogey monster living in her room and under her bed. She opened her door to be greeted by her mother, "Oh hey, Mom. Didn't hear the door open from downstairs."

Mrs. Keller smirked as she held up the mask, "This just came in for you." she then looked at the mask, almost trying to study it into figuring out where it came from, "Though I don't know who sent it to you; there wasn't any returning address or note on it though."

Courtney graciously took the mask from her mom as she looked at it. She felt the texture of the mask and was a little freaked out by this, "Wow, this… this almost feels like… skin."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Mrs. Keller nodded as she stepped back, "Well, enjoy your new mask, honey." And then walked away towards the stairway, but not before she came back for a moment, "And try not to scare your brother with that thing. Just looking at it gives_ me_ the creeps," and then she was out of there and down the stairs.

Courtney smirked at that as she mumbled, "I'll try and remember that." She then closed the door as she walked towards a mirror to look at herself and her new mask. After a moment of looking at the mask, even she felt a little freaked out. If you looked at the mask long enough, it was almost like it would pounce right at you, preparing to bite your face off. Courtney shivered for a moment, and then smirked, "Oh, this is a keeper."

Oogie, who finally came out of his hiding place, scurried on over to the dresser to where the mirror was placed at. He looked at the mask for a moment, and cringed, "Oooooh. That's one face I want to forget." He then shooed her to do away with it, "You should probably throw that thing away. I don't know, Cor, but that thing's given me bad vibes."

Courtney shook her head as she lifted the mask up, "It's just a mask, Oogie. No harm ever came from wearing a mask." She then lifted the mask and put it over her head as she slipped it on. Amazingly, it was a loose yet snug fit on her as she moved it around and into place. For a moment, it felt strangely warm and soft… almost as if it were alive. And then suddenly, the mask shrunk around her face, almost as if the mask was vacuum-sealed itself to her head and neck. Overcoming the shock and startled predicament, Courtney felt around the mask, noticing the amazing transformation from such an amazing costume feature.

And then, much to her amazement, and to Oogie's now terrified face, she smiled, causing the Mask to smile as well with her, mimicking her facial and eyelid movements. And then, she opened her mask's mouth as she spoke in a grizzly echoed voice, belonging to some unearthly being, "Cool."

At that moment, Max, stumbled into the room, and noticed her sister looking at her full-body mirror with her back shown to him. He also noticed the strange creature standing on her vanity dresser as he jumped back in fright as he pointed out, "Whoa, what's that?" But then he saw his sister turn around to face him… only it wasn't his sister, but a green-faced monster dressed up as his sister as she skulked towards him.

"Wh-Who are you?" Max asked, terrified at seeing the monster's face. Oogie, seeing through Courtney's little scaring game, hopped off the desk and scurried over to the bed as this little scene played off.

"Take a guess, little morsel." the creature snarled at him, with hunger in its eyes. But then after seeing Max freak out too much, the creature laughed in an all-too familiar voice, "Relax, Max. It's me."

Max looked at her, slightly stunned as he raised an eyebrow to be certain, "Courtney? Is that you?"

Courtney tilted to the side on her hip as she looked at her brother while shaking her head in disappointment, "My own brother… and he didn't even recognize my style of clothing."

"Well, it's kind of hard when you have a face like that." Max pointed out and then half-cringed as he suggested, "Maybe you should take it off."

Oogie hopped on to the bed as he flopped over to Max's end and looked to Courtney, "The lil' dwarf here's right, Cor. Just take that stupid thing off before _it stays_ there… permanently."

Courtney huffed as she sighed in annoyance, "Alright, alright. Jeez, you two are a bunch of killjoys altogether." She then reached for the mask as she grabbed the seams under her shirt and began to tug them off. However, she struggled at it as it was seemingly not coming loose, "That's odd… I… I can't seem to get it off." It was then that she slightly started to worry innerly as she struggled to get the mask off. Finally, after one final tug the mask started to peel off her face as she removed it off her face.

She breathed deeply, almost as if she went out for a long jog or so, "Sheesh. What's with this thing?" She then forgot all about the mask's constricting nature and looked to her brother, "Here, check it out," and threw it to him.

Grimily, Max caught the mask as he looked it over. But as he held it, his fear was gone and replaced with amazement, "Cool. It even feels like real skin." But then a look of confusion came on to his face as he looked to his sister and asked, "But how'd you do that? How'd you change your voice?"

Courtney thought about it for a moment as she looked at the mask. And then mumbled out loud, "Don't know. It's gotta be some new kind of nano-tech mask or something."

Max looked at Oogie for a moment, and asked out loud, "So… you were the one making all the noise under the bed?"

Oogie winked at that as he smirked, "Pretty much, kiddo. I'm what your sister calls a Boggart, or Boogie Monster, for better recollection."

Max raised an eyebrow as now, for he decided to ask a question that never had an answer for until now, "Um… say, uh, Oogie? I've always wanted to know this: why do they call you guys Boogie Monsters? You don't look all slimy or look anything like a booger at all."

Oogie smirked as he answered, "This is why," and then opened his mouth as his tongue extended like a frogs' as it shot up into his nose. And then, to everyone's disgust, he pulled it back into his mouth, taking with it a huge green booger and ate it.

Courtney cringed as she nearly barfed at that scene, "Ugh! That's disgusting!"

Max did the same thing as he stuck his tongue out, "Yuck! That is gross…", but then smiled as he nodded, "… but cool."

"You're welcome!", Oogie smirked.

* * *

**Later That Night**

* * *

After dinner, and a little lint given to Oogie to satisfy his cravings, Courtney had finished washing up and was now in her pjs. She was just finishing drying her hair as she sat down at her desk, looking at her new mask. She thought it was a pretty awesome gift; the perfect tool in scaring that bossy and whiny Priscilla at school. She smirked at her newfound toy as she got up and looked to Oogie, who was finishing his lint, "I gotta tell ya, Oogie, that mask has made my day."

After Oogie had finished the lint, his licked his little digit fingers as he looked at the mask with much uncertainty. He then looked to Courtney as she stretched her arms up to get the kinks out of her shoulders, and advised, "I'd be a little cautious about that mask, Cor. Ever heard that expression: Don't look a Gift Horse in the mouth?" He then pointed to the mask, "You don't even know who sent it to you… or even know if it's completely harmless. I mean, what about how your voice changed when it was on?"

Courtney shrugged as she guessed, "A new type of trans-voice microphone in the throat perhaps?"

"What about when you couldn't get the mask off?", Oogie accusingly asked as he crossed his arms at her, "That wasn't exactly normal for a Halloween mask."

Courtney shrugged as she got in bed and pulled her blankets over her legs. She then shook her head as she answered, "A little heat and sweat can cause a mask to shrink around the face like that."

Oogie looked at her with a furrowed scowl as he calmly but in a worried tone, replied, "Courtney! A little while ago when you had the mask on, you scared your brother, and from the way you were acting… you weren't even yourself. You were like a… like a completely different person than the girl I've known for only a day now."

After seeing a blank, yet confused look on Courtney's face, Oogie just shrugged, "Ah, never mind. I'm going to bed." He then hopped off the bed and scurried under it. Then when he made himself comfortable, he curled his four tails in front and back of him, making a makeshift bed and blanket for himself as he slept like a curled up kitten.

Courtney just sighed and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about what Oogie had said to her. She looked disheartened as she innerly told herself, 'Maybe he's right; maybe there was something wrong with me when I put on that mask.' But then she shook her head about it and chuckled, "Oh for crying out loud! It's just a mask. It can't do anything; it's not like it's alive."

And soon, after pushing her thoughts aside, she fell fast asleep. But the mask on her desk however had something else in mind. Somehow and without logic found in it… it slightly turned towards her direction, hissing out softly and without making a sound to wake anyone up.

The mask's bottom seemed to stretch and branch out slightly into makeshift spider legs, as it seemed the mask started to twitch and move and then in the dark of night actually leapt off the chair onto Courtney's bed. She was so tired that the sudden shift on her bed didn't even register enough for her to wake up and move as the mask crawled up towards her. When the light cast a shadow at the side of her bed, it caught the mask's shadow as well; a silhouette of the mask appeared on the wall, showing that the mouth of the mask twisted into an unhinged smile with a prehensile tongue sticking out somehow. Whatever the reason, the mask slowly and menacingly inched its way to Courtney, with some unforeseen event.

Even though Courtney wasn't awake at this point, she didn't have to be as she stirred in her sleep uncomfortably. She couldn't tell how, maybe a sixth sense in her sleep, but somehow the girl knew that something horrible was about to happen to her, and she was powerless to stop it. But for some reason in her dreams, all she could think about was that time a few days ago, when she ate that worm sandwich and was laughed at by everyone in the school. Especially when she saw Priscilla's smug look on her face; she was the one who rubbed it in to her and humiliated her completely.

* * *

_Priscilla mockingly waved at Courtney, with an evil smile and snicker to boot. Priscilla mockingly asked, "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought a witch needed more protein in her diet." _

* * *

And soon, in her dreams, all that fear and uneasiness turned to anger and hate… and that's when it happened.

As the mask finally reached her by the feet, it started off by encasing her feet in its greenish rubbery skin. It slithered up her bare skin, linking and wrapping around her flesh all over her. Courtney didn't seem to notice it at all, nor was she awakened by it as she clenched her bed from her nightmares. The mask had already slunked its way up to her hands and wrapping them up in a web-like pattern, wrapping around her hands and encasing her fingers. It encased all over her skin, leaving her nightgown untouched as it encased her whole body, forming all around her body, like a tight full body suit.

Finally, it reached her face as the mask turned around, hovering over the last part that wasn't encased in its green skin. Just at that second, Courtney awoke, with surprise on her face as the mask slithered on her face as she gasped. Her back arched up as she gasped and spasmed as she and the mask began fighting control… and then suddenly went limp.

Oogie snored soundly, all curled up under the bed as he groaned, "Courtney… turn off that mummy movie, would ya? It's the middle of the night…" He continued to sleep soundly as a pair of dainty, yet clawed toed feet dropped on the ground.

And then the feet, followed by what appeared to be Courtney, walked over the closet, as her nightgown fell to the ground. After a few minutes of looking for the right outfit, a small, but green and black claw nailed girl's hand reached in the closet and pulled out the Elvira vampire outfit. After getting dressed in it, the figure, who was supposedly Courtney, walked on over to the window that showed the moonlight, and with a pair of green black clawed nail hands, she opened the window, and then jumped out of there into the night.

* * *

**In Town**

* * *

Somewhere down town, in the dead of night and walking incoherently, a group of jocks were walking around town. And leading them with a beer bottle in his right hand was Josh Bowden, the bully jock at Amityville high school. They had currently been drinking, and might someone say, underage drinking thanks to a couple of fake IDs that they had with them. Unfortunately for them all, except for one, they were completely hammered at this point, so they were completely unaware of what would happen next.

They stopped right under a streetlight, illuminating them on the spot, when they saw it right in front of them. In a darkened alleyway, a female figure was walking towards them. She walked right to them, with her hips swaying as she walked towards them.

Josh, in his drunken state, smirked lecherously as he elbowed his other chums as he muttered, "Hey, check it out. Street babes."

His other friend, a guy who was corpulent and had red hair cut in a bowl shape, snickered with a snort, "A'right… late night candy hour."

The sober boy, who seemed to be the only one, was the only voice of reason among them all. He was a boy around sixteen, slim but muscular build, like a surfer's body. Wearing jeans, a white shirt, black and white shoes, and sporting their jerseys as well. His skin was dark tan with brown hair swept back, meaning he was of Hawaiian descent, and held back by a grayish brown headband, and blackish brown eyes.

He clearly seemed to be the voice of reason as he got in front of them and pointed out, "Guys, c'mon. You're all drunk, and you're not thinking clearly here. Why don't we… "

But he was shoved out of the way by Josh, "Stop ruinin' our fun, Leon," as the girl was now close to them, but didn't enter the light. Acting smoothly, he brushed his hair out and cleaned up his shirt and jacket as he gave her a wink and a pickup smirk that came with its own line, "Hey, baby."

The girl just stood there for only a moment, but then smiled as she exposed a row of yellow sharp teeth that went unnoticed by any of the boys. She then walked into the light, slightly stunning them for a second. She was a fifteen-year-old girl, slim and slender, barefooted and wearing an Elvira-like dress that showed off her cleavage and shoulders, even her left leg as the slit that showed it went all the way to the hip. However… the boys didn't find this girl hot… as her entire skin was green, her toenails and fingernails black and claw like, and her face was horrifying like that of a monster with a full head of black hair.

It mockingly waved at them in a seductive way, as it hissed out in a monstrous tone, "Hi boys…"

All the boys paled as they all realized that the girl they were about to hit on… was a monster. The shock and feeling of terror in their bodies finally got them sobered up again as they all screamed, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" And immediately bolted down the street, running for dear life.

It looked at their retreating forms for a moment, and cackled evilly. And then in a flash, suddenly sprinted after them in a rush.

Josh was in the lead, pleading for dear life, hoping that thing wasn't following them. However, Leon seemed to run past him in a huff, clearly out speeding his quarterback captain. The other boys weren't as lucky as the fat redhead was snagged from behind, screaming until it stopped.

A black tackler was running for his life; the fear was evident on his face as his eyes were nearly bugging out of his skull. His breathing was hastened just as fast as his heartbeat at what he just saw. Suddenly, unknown to him, a tendril of some green stretching rubber, make shifted into a lasso, shot over him as it fell over him and wrapped around his waist. As he saw this, the black jock screamed out for bloody murder, and pulled him hard, causing him to fly back into the darkness.

The last jock, an athletically buff Hispanic-looking fellow, heard the scream and tried to run as fast as he could. But as he did, he heard the most evil of chuckling ever behind him. It was getting closer and closer; he could feel the creature's neck breathing down upon him. Finally, after nearly wetting himself, he turned towards an alleyway to hide; when he did, the shadow of the monster girl ran past him. The boy huffed and puffed from all the running, and finally, after realizing he had lost it, he chuckled and laughed lightly, knowing full well that he had escaped…

"There you are…. ", the same grizzly and monstrous voice that came from the monster girl. The jock paled at this as he went bug eyed. He slowly looked around to where he heard the voice, and saw right above him where it came from. Crawling on the wall over his head was the monster girl, climbing the wall like Spider-Man would.

He screamed in bloody murder as it dove forward and attacked him; its mouth opened with its razor yellow teeth and her black claws lunged right at him. Then everything went black into darkness...

* * *

**The Next Morning**

* * *

Courtney bolted right up, as she gasped from what nightmare she just had, shouting, "NOOO!" She breathed deeply, trying to catch her breath from what she had just dreamt. Oogie was still sound asleep, even from all the screaming that Courtney had done a while ago. She looked around the room to see if everything was in place; the mask was on her computer desk, her window was closed up, and she was wearing her nightgown as opposed to what she… _It_… wore in her dream. Sweat poured down lightly on her pale skin as she landed flat on her back, and sighed in relief, "Phew. It was only a dream… "

But before she could relief herself of worry, she got up, and felt a crunching sound underneath her butt. She got up and looked to where she was lying down on, and looked confused at something. Where she lay down a few minutes ago, a few strange green leaf-sized flakes were placed on her bed to where she slept on. She picked one of them up, just to be certain of what she saw wasn't some half-baked weird dream she had.

She looked back at the mask for a moment and asked herself, "What's going on here?" She tried to find at least some logic to all of this as she walked over to the mask and picked it up. She frowned at it, trying to find some kind of sign that this was bizarreness to a whole new degree. But before she could even try to ponder about it, the mask suddenly stretched out to her; she lightly gasped and let out a small shriek before the mask twist and recede in size as it wrapped around her neck and took the form of a rubber choker necklace.

Courtney took a few steps back, "Okay, please let this be a freaky twilight zone nightmare. I've gotta tell someone; I've gotta tell Stran-" suddenly, she felt a little light headed, stumbling to her bed and sat on the edge of it.

"Okay… what was that?" She was back on her bed resting her head on a hand. She then took her other hand and traced it gently on the 'mask' necklace, as if to confirm what just happened. the mask had just leapt out at her, and then morphed into a rubber choker necklace. She smirked at this event, knowing full well that this mask had a lot of interesting features. But then she snapped back to reality as she remembered what Stranger had told her about the book.

She paled at this as she realized that the mask that her mom had given her might have been one of the monsters that were supposed to be entrapped in it. She got up off her bed as she shook her head, "That's it! If this is one of those monster things from the book, I've got to get this thing off! I don't even know what this thing's gonna…" she then stopped in front of her full body mirror, and then saw that the choker then morphed into a cross necklace. "Whoa. That's… that's pretty cool… for a living mask." But she shook her head as she snapped out of it, "What am I thinking? I've gotta get rid of it; I've gotta give it back to Stranger…"

_Why do that, Courtney?_

"Why what?" Courtney asked aloud. She shook her head at what she had just experienced; she was talking to herself… and from her head. Sure she had had conversations with herself but this felt…odd for some reason.

_Why get rid of me? Don't you like to scare people?_

"Well, yeah, I do. But this… this is just_ too _creepy… even for ME!"

_So I'm a living mask that can change its shape to be more travel convenient. That and I have a mind of my own and talk back to you. And YOU want to get rid of the scariest mask in your possession?_

"Well, no but…"

_Well, then I don't see the problem. Besides… don't you want to get back at Priscilla before she gets back at you for that lil' roach shower you gave her?_

Courtney thought about that. She knew that Priscilla wasn't about to let that roach prank go. That girl was going to try and get even with her no matter what. However, she had to admit that she really didn't know a whole lot about this mask at all. She then crossed her arms in thought as she thought about it, 'Maybe… I should at least go to Stranger and see what he knows about it… '

_STRANGER WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO KEEP ME! He and that walking jigsaw will make you get rid of me!_

'No… no they wouldn't. Would they?' Courtney suddenly thought darkly. Why would she give up this prize? This mask was unique and she had to admit, she was feeling great; better than she ever had. There was so much more scaring she could do with this mask. She couldn't let this prize be taken away from her… she wouldn't.

she walked up to her mirror as she grinned to herself, looking at her reflection, and the monster-faced necklace. She would tell at least Justin and her brother, but would have to tell Stranger and Elsa later after she was done with Priscilla; besides, maybe she could find something useful with a living mask?

_Yes. Yes. But for now, let's keep it a secret from Stranger now. I mean, what's the harm?_

"Yeah…what is the harm?" she muttered to himself. She smiled and walked out into the hallway on her way to the shower.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.2**


	8. The Haunted Mask pt2

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.2**

* * *

**Later that Day**

**Amityville Junior High**

* * *

Before the first bell rang for class to begin, Courtney strode into the school. However, she seemed a little different than before as anyone who saw her the first day she came as the New Girl. She seemed a little more confident, her mood was a little more good, and she seemed a bit… preppy. That was a little out of whack, considering that most people knew she was a Goth girl. She strode up to her locker as she put in the combination, but stopped as soon as a familiar face walked up to her.

It was none other than Justin as he stopped and leaned next to the locker next to hers, "Hey, Courtney."

"Hey, Justin," Courtney smirked back at him.

Justin raised an eyebrow at this but kept his smile as he said, "Wow, I'm… I'm a little surprised that you're this um… happy."

Courtney just shrugged, "Guess all I needed was a goodnight's rest." She then opened her locker, only when she did, something jumped out at her, causing her to jump back and scream. She calmed down a bit as Justin was right by her, helping her calm down, as the two looked on the ground to see what it was that spooked her out of her wits. It was a stuffed spider plushie toy loaded with a spring to make it jump out.

But then, the two heard a snicker as they turned, and surprisingly Oogie peaked from in Courtney's back pack, and saw who it was that was laughing. Priscilla was strolling towards them as she held up a video camera, pointing at Courtney in particular. Her friends were with her as she mockingly asked in concern, "Oh dear. Is the Boggart making you see a fear of spiders?" She and her friends chuckled under their breath as she waved the camera to spite Courtney, who wasn't looking too happy at this point, "Everyone at Carly Beth's party is gonna want to see this."

She then pushed it even more as she mocked Courtney even more as she imitated Courtney's screaming, "Now on video, and soon on sale for viewing, Courtney Keller doing the Dance of Fear. It's gonna be an instant classic."

"Sheesh," Oogie whispered, keeping out of sight, "This girl's got some serious issues."

Courtney, however, was on the verge of anger as she tried to get the camera, "Give me that tape!"

However, Priscilla snatched it away, "Not likely." She then looked at both Courtney and Justin as she arrogantly smirked, "Next time… Losers… remember who you're all messing with." And then walked away with her two friends following behind.

Courtney was just glaring daggers at Priscilla at this moment, while everyone else walked away, leaving her and Justin alone in the hallway. Oogie took this moment to crawl out of the back and perch himself on Courtney's shoulder. She slowly shook her head as she planned something in her mind now. She then took Oogie off her shoulder as she forcefully shoved him to Justin, and started to walk away.

"Courtney, wait!" Justin ran up to Courtney to stop her as Oogie plopped on to his shoulder. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna sort it out."

Oogie gave her a confused yet concerned look, "You sure that's a good idea? I mean, she might get even."

"Oh, after what I'm gonna do, she'll think twice from now on.", Courtney said coldly and harshly.

But then Justin then ran up a little and stood in front of her, "Courtney, look. As a friend, I don't think… "

"A friend?", Courtney asked in a darkened tone, stopping and poking at him in the chest, "Get this through your thick skull: you're not my friend! I never even considered you, Alex, Elsa, or even Oogie as friends. You people just hang around me; that means jack to me at this point!" And then she shoved a stunned Justin out of her way and back-first into the lockers as she strode off, "From now on, all of you just stay away from me! I don't need friends, and I never wanted any! So back off and leave me alone!" And just walked off.

Justin, after having recovered from being shoved into the lockers so hard, was shocked by her behavior. He might not have known Courtney for a long time, but he knew that this wasn't the Courtney he was starting to know. He then looked at Oogie who was on his shoulder and asked, "Did… something happen to her that I should know about?"

Oogie shrugged and answered as best he could, "Nothing aside from getting scared like that." But then plopped onto his shoulder in a sitting position as he pulled at his right ear in open thought, "Though she has been acting a lot strange… er. Ever since she got that mask in the mail, things have been getting out of hand with her."

"Mask?", Justin asked as he turned to look at Oogie with a raised eyebrow, "What mask?" It was at that moment; Justin knew that something was very wrong with this. And as soon as school was over, he was gonna go over to the Halloween Store, and to the only people who knew that could help him find out what it was.

* * *

**Girl's Changing Room**

* * *

After a long and tenacious time at PE, the girls were all cleaning up and changing for the day. Priscilla was currently drying off the sweat from the last workout as her friends strode on over. They were conversing on how the whole revenge against Keller had worked out. During the day at school, no one saw a lick of the Goth girl at all. Priscilla smirked as she figured that Keller had gone home, crying to mommy or was brooding it over at a coffee house. She then opened her locker and took out her camcorder.

She turned it on to the moment Courtney was frightened, and chuckled, "I don't believe it. It just keeps getting better and better every time I watch it."

"Hey, Priscilla," her redheaded friend popped up next to her, getting ready for a shower, "Did you hear?"

"Hear what, Tabby?", Priscilla asked.

"Some of the Football team members went missing last night.", Tabby told her as she explained. Last night, three of the football players had vanished last night; the only two found were Josh and Leon. Seeing that they found Josh drunk, Leon was the only one coherent enough to explain to the cops what had happened. Then everyone thought that Leon was taking drugs from what he had told them; a girl monster, came out of nowhere, and chased after them.

Priscilla scoffed at that as she put her camera back, "Monster, yeah right." She then pulled her towel out as she began to undress, "Tabitha, Stacey, let me tell you this through on out. Monsters, belong in B-Movies." Her friends nodded at that as everyone else had finished changing and walked out, leaving only the three alone.

Unknown to any of them, a figure looked at them through the ceiling ventilation shaft. The figure's breathing was raspy but deep as whoever it was looked down at Priscilla, with a mixture of contempt and hatred. However, deep somewhere inside of her, a part of her wondered why she felt so strongly about doing what she was about to do. Okay, sure she was PO'ed but she was never one to try and do what she had been thinking about since she got home secretly and grabbed her Elvira dress.

But then again, this girl had made fun of dragging her through the mud in humiliation and all that just angered her. The girl's black clawed hands then clenched the steel shaft she knelt on as the claws dug into the steel, leaving imprints in them. She then went on with her plan as she scurried in a quick speed to the showers, where Tabitha and Stacey were currently at.

As soon as Priscilla got out of her clothing and into a towel, she heard it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Priscilla nearly jumped at both of those screams belonging to both of her friends. Fearfully worried for her friends, she called out, "Tabby? Stacey?" Not getting an answer from either one, and even though she was afraid, she slowly walked towards the showers. As she got closer, all she could hear was the sound of two running showers, and her own silent breathing as the fear was creeping on at her. As she stepped into the open shower room, all she saw was the lights on, two showers running to where her friends should have been. Her heart was beating even faster seeing that her friends were nowhere to be found. She frantically looked around calling out, "Come on, you two! This isn't funny!" She went in further as she hoped they would jump out and surprise her, but no such luck.

Suddenly, something whooshed past the entrance to the showers, disappearing as it reached the other end. Priscilla clutched her towel tight around her as she turned around sharply, "Hey, come on, guys. Seriously!" No one there as well as no reply from her friends. She started to whimper at this as her face showed a little fear from all this, "Okay… guys… I'm really scared now… so stop it, okay? I'm… I'm really scared…."

"Or not scared enough…"

Priscilla nearly froze in place as her eyes went wide with fright from that strange eerie voice. From the sound and volume of it, Priscilla could only guess that the voice came from right behind her. Frightened and not wanting to face this person or… thing, she stood straight as a board, not to turn around to see who it was, but then was grabbed from off the ground.

She was suspended in the air and was turned around, only to come face-to-face with a green faced, black haired female monster dressed in some female vampire getup… who was sticking to the walls in a crouched position on her feet. "Hello, Priscilla… ", the monster girl spoke in a raspy echoed monster voice with a darkened tone "… we have to talk."

"Wh-Wh-Who are you?" Priscilla asked, completely terrified beyond anything now.

The monster girl just smirked as her lips flexed, showing her sharp teeth, "Oh, just someone going for a new look," then pulled her closer to her face, and then much to Priscilla's terror, brought out a snake-like tongue that licked from her neck to her cheek, causing the girl to freak out and whine even more as she smirked evilly, "And a new attitude to boot. Now I'll ask you nicely, but only once: where is the camcorder?"

"C-C-Camcorder?" Priscilla whimpered, still feeling the slimy tongue only seconds ago, "W-What camcorder?"

"WRONG ANSWER!", the monster girl shouted and then threw Priscilla through the air, back towards the lockers as she landed and bounced off a bench table and landed on the floor next to her locker. Priscilla, a little shaken up and disoriented from being thrown that hard, shook her head from the dizziness that started to float her head a little. But then, in a flash, the monster girl appeared a few inches from her as she reached down, and lifted her up by the neck again as she growled, "The camcorder, Wright! The one you used to film Courtney Keller doing the 'Dance of Fear'! I want the tape you have of her doing it!" she started shaking her in the air.

"I don't know… " SMASH! The monster girl punched a hole into the locker that Priscilla was pressed against, nearly only a few inches to where her head was at.

The hand then pulled out, holding the camcorder as the Monster girl looked at it. She then smirked at it, and then to a terrified Priscilla as she retorted, "See? Now that wasn't so bad." But she still held Priscilla firmly to the wall as she smirked in a sneering way, Priscilla on the verge of wetting her towel, "Now… I want you to say you're sorry… loudly. Say it… and I'll let you go."

Priscilla was just too scared, so all she could do at this time was squeak out, "I-I-I-I-I-I…"

Clearly got getting the picture, the monster shouted out as her eyes glowed red with anger, as she growled in a singing tone, "I don't hear an apology, Priscilla Wright…" and then to emphasize her point, the monster girl suddenly started to grow a back full of small yet sharp black spikes that reached to her shoulders, nearly tearing her dress. She then growled even more furiously as she shouted, "Say it! SAY IT!"

Priscilla was on the verge of tears, whimpering for a moment, until she finally shouted, "ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT! I'M SORRY, PLEASE!"

The monster finally smirked at this as her grip loosened up a bit, "That's better." But then suddenly, something went terribly wrong. The monster's eyes, which were red, suddenly became pitch black, showing no eyeballs in the sockets at all. The monster's growl then deepened as it sounded different; instead of a female growl, it was now a raspy deep male voice.

And if that wasn't enough, to make things even more of a terrifying experience, the green skin on the arm that held Priscilla started to stretch and ooze towards the monster's captive. The outstretched skin then oozed on to Priscilla, who was freaking out even more as it wrapped around her body, tightening as if it was cocooning her. Then Priscilla, who was terrified as to what she saw, whimpered out before the skin wrapped and encased her head and face, "W-W-Wait! Y-Y-Y-You said you'd let me go!"

Then the Monster Girl answered that question, now in the raspy male voice with a toothy evil smile, "_I lied_."

Priscilla screamed out in panic before the skin completely cocooned her. The Monster Girl then hauled the girl on her back, then crushed the camcorder with only one hand, as she hopped up powerfully, sneaking back into the vents. As that happened, a new class of girls coming back from the other gym class came in there, completely unaware of what had happened a little while ago.

* * *

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

* * *

The store was open, but that wasn't the case neigh being for one occupant standing at the front door. Justin stood there, along with Oogie in his backpack peeking out at it. He was considering waiting a day or two to talk to Stranger about what he decided on, but he had to rush it now. Courtney wasn't in class at all that day; he even asked if she was called in sick but the teachers all said that no one ever called them, nor had seen the girl be excused anywhere. Justin knew that something weird was going on and knew just who to go to if something was a little weird or unusual. After school was officially over, Justin had to hightail it over to the stores and now stood there, thinking about entering.

Oogie, who was looking at the by, and noticed that Justin was having second thoughts about this for some odd reason. Oogie just huffed as he whispered, "Will you go in there already? You're looking like you're expecting them to open the door for you."

Justin took a deep breath as he muttered, "I'm just preparing myself. There is _another_ reason as to why I'm here, you know. It's not just for Courtney, well actually it is. I'm just preparing myself in case Stranger might say no." He then looked at the door, and mumbled, "You can do this…. " and just walked to the door as he opened it and stepped on inside.

As he stepped in, like the first time, no one was in the main hall as it was quiet, but still filled with Halloween knick-knacks, decorations, and other Halloween memorabilia. As he walked in, Oogie wiggled his way out of the bag as he hopped on to the floor, scurrying towards the stairwell and crawled up the railing, standing at the middle edge. Oogie looked upward as he looked back to Justin who walked up, "C'mon, c'mon! We haven't got all day!"

Justin sighed as he went up the stairs with Oogie following, "Relax. What's the big rush?"

"The more Courtney spends with that mask, the more she starts to becoming some sort of Anger-Management brat!", Oogie ranted as he jumped on to the right railing that led to the Library Wing of the store, "At this rate, she might be throwin' me out of the house!" And then looked to Justin grudgingly, "And that means I'd have to live with you."

Justin raised an eyebrow at that as he asked, "I doubt you'd be thrown out just like that. And even if that's so, I'm sure Max would let you stay in his room." But then he frowned as he raised an eyebrow at Oogie, "What's wrong with my place? You haven't even been there."

Oogie cursed himself for talking out like that, and then turned to Justin with an apologetic smile, "Neheheheheh, sorry about that."

* * *

**Library Wing**

* * *

As they entered the Wing, Justin with Oogie on his shoulder, looked around the room to find either Stranger or Elsa. As he walked on in, he looked around the walls and noticed the shelves with the dead remains in jars. He shuddered as he thought aloud, 'Keep forgetting how creepy this place can get. Even after its Halloween.' Afterwards, they continued on the search.

As they looked around, Justin had forgotten all about the memory on how many books there were in here. He was still completely amazed as to how far this place went, considering the size of the building or the room that they were in looked on the outside of the tower Mansion. From the height and length of the room, to the width and diameter of it, this room looked to be a house of its own. It was just hard to believe the vastness of it all as he walked up to the second stairway, to where the Book of Goosebumps was kept.

As he got to it, he walked on over to the display shelf, he stood right in front of it. As he looked at it, he still couldn't wrap around his finger on how one book could cause so much heartbreak or disaster to the world. He sighed as he shook his head on it, 'I guess it's just the scientist engineer in me and not the imaginative part that doubts this bizarre nightmare I'm living in.' he then looked at Oogie, who had hopped off his shoulder on to the display case, 'He's proof enough that this isn't a dream.'

He turned around, only to come face-to-face with Alex and Elsa as he jumped back and yelped. The other two did as Justin calmed down from the startle as he looked to Alex and asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you said this had nothing to do with any of this."

Alex shook his head as he answered, "I still don' think it doesn't. But…."

"But the two of you are here for a reason. Aren't you?"

all four of them turned to the side as they were easily startled to see Stranger, right before them and came out of nowhere without making a sound. Oogie just cringed as he grimaced, "Jeez, Old Man. What are you, a ghost?"

Stranger's face didn't falter as he strode forward to the teens as he stopped in front of them. He then looked over to the two boys as he stated, "Wait. There seems to be someone missing from this little picture. Someone of great importance right now." He slowly looked back and forth, his voice not wavering his calm demeanor, and then joked as he asked, "Where's Max?"

The boys looked a little confused by that, as did Oogie, but then Elsa, who shook her head from that little joke, scolded, "John. This isn't the time for jokes; either one of these two came for a real reason."

Stranger nodded as he looked to the two boys, "So… now that all jokes are out of the way… what do you two need?" And then pointed to Justin, "Starting with you, of course. Considering you came here with much urgency and a look of commitment."

Justin sighed as he crossed his arms, and looked at Stranger, with hardened resolve as he answered, "Well first things first. I've decided I'm in on this Monster Hunting expedition… quest… thing."

Oogie just groaned at this as he held his head and shook it lightly, "Smooth, Justin. Really smooth."

Stranger raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms as he asked, "And, uh… exactly how… could you benefit this little 'Monster Hunting Expedition'? If you don't mind me asking."

Justin thought about it for a moment, but then he too crossed his arms, as he pointed out, "Look, I don't know what you used back in the days to hunt these guys with, but I can be your 'Q'."

Stranger looked the same as he said that, but Elsa, slightly confused, as she asked, "Our what?"

"Your 'Q'," Justin answered, "You know, the guy that makes all those fancy gadgets, weapons, and devices for James Bond?" Elsa still looked confused by this as Justin realized she didn't know who he was talking about. He sighed as he pulled out a Swiss Army Knife as he pulled out the tools and stated, "Basically, I can make some gadgets and weapons that can help out in a bind. If you're up against Vampires, I can make a Silver Arrow launcher with a UV portable light on it. If it's a werewolf, Silver net launcher as well as sort of a Wolf's bane mace."

"And if it's a monster made out of lint…", Alex quirked as he pointed his thumb at Oogie, "… he can devour it on the spot."

"Hey!", Oogie shot out, scolding at the boy as he pointed, "Well, what about you? What can a photographer contribute on a Darkstalker team, eh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex denied, but then shrugged, "But since you asked, a good eye and I can hide without getting spotted. And above all that… I don't ever give up, until the truth is revealed. That is what a photographer must do in order to achieve his goal."

Elsa didn't like this one bit at all; in fact, she didn't like it to begin with. It had been both her and John in guarding the book and making sure that the horrors locked in stayed locked in. To ask not only one ordinary girl, Courtney Keller, to undo the mistake that had been to unleash all the horrors they trapped, but then two ordinary mortal boys walked in and asked to help in their capture… it was just sheer madness. If anything, if they were to go on this mission, they would be seriously hurt, killed… or something much worse than death altogether.

Well she wasn't about to let them get tangled up in a nightmarish occupation like this. She then stood between the two as she declared, "Justin. Alex. I'm sorry, but I think that…"

"… you two are hired.", Stranger announced, interrupting Elsa in the process, as she, Oogie, and the boys looked a little surprised by the sudden quick answer by the still deadpan and relaxed John Stranger.

Elsa, having a look of shock and worry on her face, looked to Stranger and pleaded, "But, John….!"

"I'm no longer a spring chicken, Elsa," Stranger started out as he looked to her, and then to the boys, "These young fellows have offered their services to help in all of this. And I seriously doubt that you and Ms. Keller, if she decides to help, could handle them all on your own."

Elsa looked to Stranger, a little troubled, and then looked at the two boys, until she looked back to Stranger, "Well, yeah but…"

"Um, sorry…" Justin interrupted as he stepped up, "I know you two are still mulling it over on what to do on the hired help and all. But there was another reason as to why Oogie and I came over here." Everyone had their eyes turned to Justin, who politely interrupted as he pointed out, "Sorry. But it's just a real quickie. You see Courtney's been acting a bit strange lately."

"So what?", Alex asked as he shrugged, "She's a Goth. They're supposed to be strange."

"Stranger.", Justin corrected, "She's been going overboard lately… ever since she got this creepy mask mailed to her."

It was then that Stranger raised an eyebrow at that part, and squinted his eyes at Justin as he asked, "A mask, you say?" Unlike how he looked at that moment, Elsa had a worried look on her face. She was almost terrified at that mask part as Stranger asked, "What exactly… does this mask look like?"

Oogie stepped up as he illustrated the Mask in great detail to Stranger, "Well, for one thing, it's the mask of a bald green skinned human. He's got sort of ubber eyebrows, and yellow sharp teeth that looked like they belong to a rabid dog of sorts…."

It was then that Stranger's eyes stopped their squinting as he asked, "This mask? Was its face frozen in a state of anger?"

Oogie scratched the back of his head as he answered, "Well, actually it looked like an evil sneer than a look of anger."

Stranger sighed as he scooted between the kids as he walked over to the shelves. Then he pulled out the Book of Goosebumps as Oogie scooted over to the side, but then was given the okay for him to jump on to Stranger's shoulder. He then strode past the kids and down the stairway to the first floor of the Library Wing. The kids soon followed him afterwards as he placed the book on a reading table and opened it. He then turned to a particular page as he looked to the kids and said, "That mask… isn't a mask."

Justin stood next to the old man as he asked, "What are you saying?"

"It's a face, Justin," Elsa answered for her friend, getting the mixed reactions of shock on both the boys' and Oogie's faces.

Alex, being more shocked about all this as he asked, "Wait! What are you going on about? How can a piece of rubber be a face?"

"It wasn't always ugly… in the beginning that is," Stranger went on as he found the page he was looking for. It was a page, with much detailed notes on the bottom and left page, with on the right page, there was an illustration of the mask that Courtney had on her possession. And next to the mask's illustration, was a monstrous thing; a shadowy apparition of some sort of stretching beast with spikes on its back.

Its face was a monstrous silhouette of sorts, as Stranger explained the history of the mask, "While we were on our travels, we had come across a mask maker of sorts. He had constructed a variety of masks, created from the flesh of monster skin. It gave the masks lifelike features and attached itself to the wearer, giving it the appearance of a true lifelike face. Back then, the masks didn't have monstrous features; they were beautiful… as beautiful as any face could ever be or ever have been."

But then Justin, who was deeply concerned about this mask, asked, "So… what happened?"

Stranger slightly frowned at the illustration as he answered to them all, "Something went wrong… considering they were all created from the flesh and hides of monsters. One by one, they all started to become… hideous, deformed, and monstrous. The Mask Maker called them, the Unloved Ones; because no one would ever love them. And in due time they had become… sentient, pure evil, almost symbiotic in their nature."

"A what?", Oogie and Alex asked together.

"Symbiote. It's a life form or other that needs to share a host body in order to survive.", Justin answered as Stranger continued on with the story.

"Indeed," Stranger nodded to that as he finished up, "We destroyed all the masks, but entrapped just that one in the book," he pointed to the picture of the mask as he explained further, "Out of all the masks, it was the most powerful, and the most dangerous. Once this bound to someone, it was very difficult to unbind it from its host." And then a shadow illuminated over his face as he grimaced to everyone, while still keeping his deadpan face, "And once it stays bonded…. It slowly but surely evolve in strength… turning its host into a monster."

The two boys and Oogie paled at this answer; an answer that wouldn't depart well for Courtney in particular. The fact that whatever that mask was, it was slowly turning Courtney into something she wasn't. And soon… soon… it wouldn't be Courtney anymore. Justin, who looked terrified for Courtney, looked to Stranger as he asked, "Well, there has to be some way for us to get it off of her. I mean, you beat it last time, right? How'd you manage to beat it?"

Stranger looked to him as he answered, "There was… or is… one possibility to remove the mask, and weaken it long enough to reseal back into the Book." Everyone leaned in to hear what the technique was to remove the mask, as Stranger was building up the suspense by staying quiet. Finally, he looked to Oogie as he asked, "How many times did she put the Mask on?"

"Um, once from what I've seen," Oogie answered as he scratched his furry chin. But then panicked as he waved his arms around, "But it could have been anytime!" And that's when he transformed into his Berserker form as he ranted with his tails snapping at everyone as he looked at them, "WHY DID SHE HAVE TO PUT THAT STUPID THING ON HER FACE? SHEESH! IS IT JUST HER OR ARE ALL GIRLS THAT NAÏVE WHEN IT COMES TO THIS STUFF? UGH, I NEED A SOCK!" And then suddenly he whipped out a sock as he licked and sucked on it, and returned to his worried self, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that Courtney might have a chance, Mr. Oogie.", Stranger stated as he took the sock away from him, as he walked towards the exit, with the others following after him. As soon as they exited, they headed straight towards the Antiquities Wing as he answered, "The only one who can remove the Mask is Courtney herself."

And as the doors opened, all of them stepped in as Justin asked, "How?"

"With a symbol of love," Stranger answered as he walked over to a shelf, where various jeweled artifacts were kept. He then spotted one item in particular' a black band bracelet with a few silver beads, and in the center, a skull with its mouth open, embedded into the mouth was a small yellow gem that seemed to shimmer like a bolt of lightning. Stranger then slipped it on as he explained further, "You see, the mask wears itself on her, in order to hide her inner faults. She has to realize to not hide behind a mask, and accept the faults that are to be her. Whatever they are."

It was when he said that, Justin snapped his fingers together, "I know what it might be."

"Good," Stranger said as he held the sock in his hand where the bracelet was on. And then his hand started to jolt small bolts of lighting, as they caused the sock to levitate into the air only a few inches form his hand, "Because things might get a little worse if we don't find her in time."

* * *

**Elsewhere**

* * *

In a darkened place, seeming to look like an abandoned church covered in darkness. Walking down the aisle with a cocooned and screaming Priscilla in tow, was none other than the Mask possessing Courtney. At the altar, or what was left of it, were the three jocks, as well as Stacey and Tabitha, who were all, cocooned. They were all unconscious as their faces hung out of the cocoon, and completely unaware of whatever horror that the Haunted Mask had planned for them.

In front of them, placed on a worship table, six different masks were placed right in front of them. The Haunted Mask then hauled up the still-screaming cocoon and stuck it up there as it hung over the sixth and final mask. Then it stepped back as it cackled, "_Excellent. Now that I have six 'willing' soldiers… there won't be anything left to stop me… to bring true terror to this small little town_."

"NO!", Courtney finally shouted as she took control of herself. She grabbed at her mask, trying to pull it off as best she could, but to no avail. She whimpered at this as she tried, "Why can't I get you off?"

"_Because you need me, Courtney. Aren't you the girl who loves to scare?_", the Mask taunted to her as it chuckled, "_I'll bet you can't wait, when those masks that I've infected, latch onto the faces of those who've tormented you, and turn them into monsters like you are now. I'll bet you can't wait… to scare everyone in town tonight._"

"NO! No, this isn't what I want!" Courtney cried out as she finally got to the mouth of the mask, and pulled at it. She squirmed at it as she finally shouted, "I just wanted to scare them, not turn them into monsters!" She finally cried out, "This is going too far! Even I know when something isn't fun anymore! How would dad see me if he saw me like this?"

"_But he's not here anymore, is he? He's dead, Courtney! Dead! Besides, you deserve this. They deserve this!_"

She knew now that she needed to do something. She then pulled at the mask, tearing the facial piece off, freeing her face as she struggled, "That's it! I'm… getting… you off me… right now!"

"_face it, Courtney Keller… YOU NEED ME!_"

"I SAID NO!" Courtney shouted, as she finally tore the mask off from the upper jaw and back. Then, she tossed the top away from her as it skidded on the ground, and crinkled into a dead skin powder. She sighed as she huffed, "Enough is enough."

"_Sorry, Courtney_…" the Mask spoke out again as the remaining bits of mask that was still on Courtney, suddenly sprung to life. Courtney screamed at this as the mask stretched out and engulfed her face as she fell to the floor in a spasmodic fetal position, as the stretched out bits started to form the Mask all over again as it chuckled, "_the Haunted Mask... is taking over now! Your body, your mind, all of you, Courtney Keller… is all mine now!_"

As soon as the Mask fought to take over control of Courtney, it happened. On the altar table, the six masks started to move; they moved around and hissed and growled as they looked at their new host bodies. They suddenly hissed as they turned around; their backs opening up like a pair of face huggers. Even Priscilla's did as well as Priscilla was able to free her face, only to scream as her mask shot out at her face and started to merge with her.

On the floor, as the Mask had finally regained control over Courtney, it smirked at its newest accomplishment. The six figures stopped struggling, and ripped out of their cocoons. The shadows on the walls, showed them all grown in height; their clothing ripping due to the changes, as they finally screeched out or howled in inhuman and monstrous voices, as all that could be distinguished for a human voice, was the Haunted Mask, cackling at its soon to be victory over the humans who had shunned it unlovingly.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.3**

* * *

**Please read and review this story; it helps me out so much. And don't be afraid to give me any suggestions in it either; that's what reviews are meant for: to help the writer out as much as possible.**


	9. The Haunted Mask pt3

**Sorry if this isn't an official update, but I had to include this in the chapter. This was the actual ending, adn I don't think it would fit in the next chapter to come. So enjoy.**

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Haunted Mask; Pure Love pt.3**

* * *

**Amityville Graveyard**

**Sometime around 11 PM**

* * *

The night was cold and stale as night fell upon the graveyard of Amityville, and boy was it ever a frightful sight. Hills and walkways filled with gravestones, all shaped like some sort of ghoul, angel, or gargoyle. Mausoleums were patterned around the cemetery like a neighborhood and such. And what made it even far worse for anyone who was traveling in at that night, a low cloud of mist shrouded the ground, and eerie owl hoots filled the air with a small hint of eeriness only found in a horror movie. Truly… this was the set for a horror film, and it would have been foolish for a few to venture out in this frightful place.

Leading the way, holding a still mid-floating sock in his hands was Stranger as he led the way. Following him were the kids, Justin with a wooden bat, Alex with his camera and flash, Elsa, and even Oogie along for the ride. However, the kids had gotten this far by following Stranger in the lead, even when he was driving his hearse to the cemetery; they were still trying to figure out where Stranger was going to. While he still held on to the floating and electrified gym sock, Justin still didn't get it, and neither did Alex nor Oogie.

It was then that high time now, Alex just had to jump up with his camera and ask, "Okay, listen. Stranger, I know we've been walking around tryin' to find Courtney. But how are we supposed to do it with that sock floating around and pointing at random directions like a compass?"

Stranger, who still walked forward towards the center of the graveyard, didn't flinch or stop from that. In fact, he calmly just replied, "I'm using a Locator Spell, if you must know, Mr. Foxx."

Alex stopped and went bug-eyed suddenly. In a flash, he grabbed Justin by the shoulder, stopping him for a moment, and then asked in a rushed and startled tone, "Okay, man. How does he know my last name? I never even mentioned it at all."

Justin just looked to him as he shrugged, "Beats me. He just knows this stuff already," and kept on walking as he called from ahead, "He's just that kind of black-clad stranger type of guy you'd find in the horror movies."

"Oh, that's comforting," Alex sarcastically shot back as he kept trekking with them, despite the obviousness that he was trekking with a bunch of weirdoes, the exception being Justin. But then as he ran up to them to keep up, he asked out loud, "So that Locator Spell… does it always look like that? And if so… is it reliable?"

Stranger kept his walking as he answered, "Not really. As you've probably guessed it by now… I'm a Male Wiccan. Much like how Ms. Keller's a Female Wiccan. But this spell's not normally electrical. That's just the form my power works at from that element."

"Element? Wiccan?", Justin asked as he walked up to Elsa as they traversed the Graveyard further, "I'm not sure I follow with this. And Courtney's a Wiccan too?"

it was Elsa's turn to explain as she looked to them, "Wiccans come from the term meaning Wicca, or Witch if you will. But unlike the Witches you've seen like in Wizard of Oz or Charmed, Wiccans draw their energy from the Elements of Nature itself, seeing as how they draw from the Mana, or Living Energy of the Elements." She then explained that like Witches, Wiccans were and still called 'Beings of the Borderline'. This meant that they were halfway between being human and monster.

"And each Wiccan is in control of one element to be their true power. The true form of their magic, as they claim," Elsa explained as they continued on as she pointed to Stranger, "And John's magic is in the form of the element, Electricity. And the Book of Goosebumps can only release the monsters that were imprisoned inside, only when a virgin Wiccan reads the First Passage aloud. Hence, that would mean that Courtney's a Wiccan."

Justin thought about it for a moment, and then nodded, "That actually makes a little sense in come cases," but then asked, "So if Courtney's a Wiccan, like you say she is… then what element does her magic take the form of?"

"You'll just have to wait and find out," Stranger answered as he stopped, along with everyone else as he pointed forward, "It seems we've arrived."

Everyone looked ahead and either gulped in determination, or went white as a sheet, like Alex and Oogie did. They all saw an old church that was obviously closed up and managed to stay in one piece. Despite the fact that the windows were slightly boarded up, someone had obviously been there, considering the doors were torn open by some unseen force.

Oogie gulped at all this as he shivered on Justin's shoulder, "Ugh. It had to pick a place like that," and then was about to jump off Justin's shoulder, "Well, that's it. Time to go home."

But then Justin grabbed on to the little furball's collar fur as he raised an eyebrow, "Hold on. We're here to do a job; and we're gonna finish it right now."

And then they all proceeded into the church, with Oogie whimpering on Justin's shoulder in a high squeaky voice, "Why me? Why did I have to go with these suicidal people?"

* * *

**Graveyard Church**

* * *

They all walked into the dusty and abandoned building, seeing that no one had been here for some time. They waltzed or staggered right on in, keeping their guard from side by side as they traversed inside the church. However as they went in, they failed to notice the strange monstrous shadows luring from above the second floor windows of the church building. However, they all stopped as they saw someone kneeling at the alter that was still there.

It was only a few seconds, but everyone saw the figure at the altar. The person at the altar was none other than Courtney, her arms wrapped around her chest and kneeling in the ground; her face twisted in pain as she looked like she was struggling.

"Courtney!" he rushed over to her, ignoring the warnings from Stranger and Elsa as he knelt down next to her, "We're here to help. Where's the mask?"

"I… I don't… GUAGH!" Courtney clutched her chest even tighter as she nearly screamed out in pain and struggle.

"Hang, on. I'll bring over Stranger," Justin told her, but then felt an iron grip on his left wrist as he got up. He turned and was nearly scared out of his wits end at what he saw. Courtney's hand grabbed him only her hand was all disgusting green with black fingernail claws. "Oh crap!"

"_I've been expecting you all to show up_," Courtney said coldly in a deep raspy voice and then suddenly let go just to backhand him in the face. Justin flew back a few feet, hitting the church pews, and was a little dazed from the blow. Oogie scurried on over to him, as did Alex to help him up, only to have the two thrown away by two figures.

Alex and Oogie struggled as they looked up to see a horrifying sight. Holding the two was an overweight gorilla boy, and a muscle bound yellow Cyclops beast. Both of them had their shoes nearly destroyed, their jeans a little tattered, but the dead giveaway was their torn jerseys from Amityville Junior High.

Alex struggled as he groaned, "These guys… they must be the missing jocks!" But then he looked around as he asked, "But where's Jock Number 3?"

And then to answer his question, the third Jock popped up, transformed into a hyena like monster. Along with him though were two female harpies, colored yellow and purple all over, with towels being used as shawl skirts as they shrieked in the air.

Oogie paled at this as he groaned, "Harpies. It had to be harpies."

Then suddenly, Justin felt himself being lifted up by his own neck, causing him to gag from the pressure on his neck. It was then that he was face-to-face with Courtney, smiling evilly; her eyes were cold and dark. He knew it looked like Courtney and he didn't know her for very long, but he knew well enough to know that this wasn't her.

She cackled a little as she looked at him, "_And now it's time to take off your mask_."

Justin choked a little as he struggled to say, "I'm… not… wearing a mask…"

Courtney smirked as she lifted her free hand, as it was encased in a green rubbery looking substance. Then, it changed from a pale peach skin, to a disgusting green with black claws as they sharpened out, "_I know_."

He knew he couldn't match her up in strength, and also knew that this wasn't going to end well. He knew that as soon as he saw her raise her other green black clawed hand raise up, looking like he was about to tear him up. However, he fought the grip as he managed to shout out, "Courtney, please stop! You're still in there; fight it! Fight the mask!"

He saw the clawed hand coming towards his face as he closed his eyes tightly, waiting to feel the blow. But nothing happened as he felt nothing at all. He opened his eyes, only to see that the hand meant to claw his face off, stopped only a few inches from it. The hand then started to shake and soon it grabbed her other hand, causing it to release him as he fell to the floor. "Justin… " Courtney said weakly and whimpered to him, and he saw in her eyes it was really her… and she was hurting now more than ever as she struggled, "Please… help me… get… get the mask off."

He looked at her and apologized for what he was gonna tell her, "I can't. Stranger said that only you can."

"I… I can't! Please! Justin, you've gotta…" but then Courtney screamed out as the rubbery flesh stretched out under her neck. It then engulfed her entire head, only to have it reform back into the mask as it snarled at Justin, "_I should've known you'd be the symbol! No wonder she's getting a little stronger!" _The mask then growled out, "_Get rid of the one called Justin! Tear him apart_!"

Then suddenly, shooting downward towards between Justin and the mask-possessed Courtney was a huge creature of sorts. It was an eight foot, muscle-beefed up, blood red Fox-like female Werewolf, and it looked at Justin with ravenous hunger as it growled and snarled at him, with a little drool drop hanging from its mouth, "Oh, crap."

As Justin dealt with that huge Were-Fox, Stranger stood still as the Were-Hyena sized him up for a moment. The Were-Hyena snarled and cackled as it crouched a little, looking at Stranger who seemed unfazed by this thing. Finally, the Were-Hyena pounced at him, but Stranger was ready for him as he drew back his right hand. He then shot it forward at the beast, shooting out a huge bolt of lighting that hit the beast head on. The Hyena boy yelped and whined out in pain as he was shot straight through the window, and skidded across the ground until it crashed head first into a tombstone, going out of the game.

Elsa held Stranger by the shoulder as she looked at him concerned, "Are you okay?"

"Go help Sevyont, Elsa," was all that Stranger said to her, as she nodded. She turned to Justin as the snarling Were-Fox was about to grab him and eat him up like an uncooked steak. Knowing full well that John could handle himself, she had to take care of the less inexperienced fighters of the team.

She ran over to one of the church pews, and lifted one up with just her left hand like it weight absolutely nothing. And just as the Were-Fox was about to charge and pounce at Justin, Elsa stepped in, and swatted the Were-Fox straight up to the roof of the building, like a bat would to a baseball. The Harpy Twins shrieked out loud as they jumped up and flew towards the hole, going after the Were-Fox, like it was their leader of sorts.

Elsa looked to Justin, and asked, "You okay, Justin? They didn't hurt you did they?"

"No, not completely," Justin answered, although he felt a little winded from nearly being choked by the Haunted Mask.

Elsa grimaced at the whole situation, and felt it was hopeless. John was busy fighting off against the two remaining Mask creatures, and the Were-Fox and Harpy Twins were still up and around. She knew it was only a matter of time before somebody got killed. She had no other choice now…but to use her power. She cringed as she turned her back to Justin and said to them, "You try and help Courtney rid her of that mask. I'll fight off the Fox and Vulture Twins."

This caught Justin's attention as he asked, "Wait, what are…?"

"It takes a monster to fight against another monster, Justin!"

Justin just looked at her confused, even from the back as Alex and Oogie, who were still held prisoner watched, as he asked her in a worried tone, "E-Elsa… what are you… ?" But then he noticed her hanging her head in shame as her shoulders shook as she held herself, almost as if she was in deep depression or shame. Then Justin asked, "Elsa… is there something that you've wanted to tell us?"

Elsa sighed as she began to explain, "Justin… Alex… Oogie… and Courtney, if you're somewhere in there… I have…I have a secret that I've kept from all of you. Only John and Stine were the only ones who knew this," she then crossed her arms over her chest, "Once I reveal myself to you, that's it…you'll never see me again."

Everyone, who wasn't a masked-mutated monster, looked a little confused by this, but then Elsa said, "Still, what choice do I have…? At least it's up to you…", and then suddenly, out of her back and tearing the back of her shirt up, two green glassed and iron topped diodes that stretched about half a foot. Inside they were crackling with bolts of electricity all to the brim. And then next, she extended her arms out, and then the forearms of her sleeves tore up as her hands and forearms shred off the flesh and grew about three times their approximate size. Now, Elsa's hands were now metallic, with four fingers that had screw heads for knuckles, even on the thumbs, her wrists were connected by a rubber wrist band and on top of it was a glass bobble at the top of the wrist, that seemed to crackle with electricity from inside it, and her forearms were metallic armguards with two smaller diodes on the shoulder part. However, the metallic hands and forearms seemed to be bolted into the flesh of the arm, as it seemed like they were fused together at the elbow. The next thing was a metallic bikini bottom that seemed to act as a belt of sorts, as well as two diamond kneepads bolted to her knees, and finally, two metallic sneaker-like shoes on her feet. The toes, soles, and back heels were steel and bolted on as a small rubber tube-like structure was the middle of the shoe, connected by a small copper ring shaped gear on the sides of the shoe, and with a metallic tongue on both the back and front, guarding the ankle.

The Gorilla and Cyclops were distracted long enough, to have a double bolt of lightning shot at them, sending them flying at the wall, causing the grips on both Alex and Oogie to become loose. The two ran at the side of the one who shot the bolts, Stranger, as he smirked at the two downed and smoking beasts, "Finally. I thought they'd never get distracted."

Everyone looked pretty amazed by all this, but were all stunned when they saw Elsa's face as she turned around. Instead of the usual serious or happy face she had on, she looked pretty sad, but not in a painful sadness, a sadness that only came from being ashamed of something.

She sadly smiled at them as she started, "Here it is, my true form. I'm a monster… just like them."

But then it was Alex to step up next to Justin, as he asked aloud, "What are you talking about, Elsa? You're not that freaky weird-looking."

Oogie, who had hopped up on Justin's shoulder, answered, "What she's trying to say is that she's a Gestalt," the boys looked a little confused by that, but then Oogie sighed as he answered, "A Frankenstein Monster so to speak," and then Oogie looked to Elsa once again, "Am I right, Baby?"

Elsa finally brought up her metallic left hand as she undid her scarf… and revealed to the boys her neck bolts. She shamefully nodded as she replied, "He's right, I am a Frankenstein Monster; an artificial human created from the remains of human bodies, stitched together in a conglomeration of flesh and machine, and brought to life by a single bolt of lightning. Unable to age like everyone else, unable to become ill or sick… unable to belong anywhere," but then she looked to the others as she defended, "But don't get me wrong! When I say I want to help with not only restoring the book, but also with saving Courtney, I mean it!"

Her voice then began to quiver, as a stray tear crept from her eye, "The only reason…that I didn't tell you all…", she then began to cry, unable to hide her shame anymore, "…was because I didn't want her or any of you to see how ugly I am, and hate me! I'm a coward! I just wish I could be more like Courtney… she's so brave and outgoing; at least she had the guts and took a chance to even have friends, even though everyone sees her as some sort of freak, right?"

It was just then, she felt someone lift her right arm, startling her, and saw Justin there. He was inspecting her forearms and diodes in her back, and somewhat taking a sniff at them as well, studying the intricate details of the craftsmanship that was her body, which was kind of weird, even to Oogie as he was watching Justin the whole time. And then the boy raised a hand to her…and then slapped her on the back as hard as he both could. This caught everyone who watched by surprised by this, even Stranger.

It was then that Justin winked at Elsa as he smirked and stated, "What's wrong with you? Don't you know how cool having fists of steel is… ?"

Elsa just looked a little clueless by this as she asked, "Cool?"

Justin nodded as he placed a reassuring hand on her small shoulders, "Elsa… I haven't exactly known you for long, but I can tell from just watching you in the store with Courtney and Stranger, that you're no monster, and that goes for Oogie too, except when he gets angry or panics. The only real Monsters are evil, and any creature that befriends a human is so not evil. You just… look different, that's all. I also know that Courtney isn't the kind of person to hate anyone because of something that makes them different."

But then Elsa whimpered a little, "But…but I'm a monster…how can…?"

It was Oogie's turn as he stated with a wink, "Then you're really don't know anyone here at all. You don't really think the real Courtney would not like you 'cause of something like this…?" he then smirked at Elsa as he stated, "You know you're being stupid, right?" Elsa then stopped crying as she looked at the two boys and boogey monster, who she considered her allies.

The boys then smiled at this as Justin reassured her, "Go! We'll cover you!" he turned to Alex and Stranger as he asked, "Am I right?"

Alex simply nodded as he turned to Stranger and Elsa, "Right, so go already!"

Elsa looked at these people, her allies, and then looked to John who simply allowed a small smile to creep up as he nodded to her. She had kept secrets from any and every human, aside from John and Stine, and told these two at the last minute, and yet here they were, standing beside her. They didn't even hate her because of her metallic components or neck bolts…in fact, they were quite the opposite. They accepted her for them; she then wiped away her tears as she smiled to them, filled with more confidence than ever, "O…Okay!"

Then they heard a growl from up top and they saw the Were-Fox about to pounce back down. But Elsa crouched to the ground, with the diodes on her back pulsating with electrical energy as they hummed in a high pitch tone. And then at a massive show of power, shot up to the roof like a bullet being shot, and slugged the wolf square in the jaw. As soon as she was up there, she landed on solid ground as the Were Fox and the Harpy Twins charged right at her.

The Were-Fox snarled as it ran on all four paws to a broken-down pipe organ. It lifted it up with only two hands and threw it at fast speed at Elsa. However, she stood her ground as she drew back her right fist, and smashed the organ into pieces. The Harpies flew right at her with their talons opened up right at her. However, Elsa picked up two of the organ's pipes and held them like bats… that is until the Were-Fox charged right at her and pounced at her to pin her down.

Luckily, Elsa just kicked her with one of her iron shoes right in the face. The immense electrical power surging through her had caused her strength to nearly reach Herculean level as her kick nearly broke the snout, sending the red furred she-dog straight out the church, and skidding nearly seven yards outside, leaving a mound of dirt and dust clouds spewing all over.

However, that was enough to distract her from the Harpy Duo as they attacked her full on. Elsa was able to block them a little, but not much due to their ferocity in their attacks. Their talons scratched up her metallic components a little, barely damaging them at all, but slashed at her flesh, causing her to wince. She stepped back a bit as she winced a little from her injuries, which didn't bleed at all; her clothes were a little torn in sections and there were cuts that slightly bled a little.

The Harpies flew at her one more time, their talons flexing ready for one final strike. However, instead of waiting for them, Elsa charged right at them with the pipes, and swatted at them connecting a blow to them. However, the Harpies didn't expect that the pipes to be electrified as they shrieked in pain; their feathers starting to sizzle and all around their bodies electricity danced like crazy. The shrieks died down a little as the two Harpies fell to the ground, half dazed from the attack.

Elsa then took one of the lead pipes and bent it like it was made of cheese. She shackled it to the Harpies' ankles, linking them both together, and then lifted them up as they were waking back up and recuperating from the attack. Holding them by the feet with both her hands, she then swung them around in a circle, building momentum as the two monsters shrieked at what was going on. This kept up by Elsa as she grunted, 'Just a little more…' but she hadn't noticed that the Were-Fox was crawling back from the hole in the roof as it looked at Elsa with distasteful hatred towards her.

Finally, at the last swing and with tremendous strength, she threw the harpies right at the hole… and right at the Were-Fox. The immense power and speed, sent the trio flying towards two miles away from the church and further into the graveyard as Elsa heard a small dog whine, wondering what that was. Her diodes whirred down a little, as her forearm exhaust diodes shot out a small puff of steam as her systems cooled down a little.

She cracked her neck as she looked down at the hole that led downstairs, "Now for the real problem…"

* * *

**Downstairs**

* * *

Back downstairs, the real source of the problem stood before Justin and the others. The mask-possessed Courtney arched her back and held her arms out from her sides as she flexed her claws at them, growling at them. The Mask snarled at them as it growled, "_So… you've beaten my enslaved minions. Oh well, they were pretty worthless to being with_," and then it glared darkly at them all as it bellowed, "_BUT I'LL TEAR YOU ALL APART BEFORE YOU HAVE THE CHANCE TO TRAP ME AGAIN!"_

Then out of her back, black horn-like spikes jotted out as it groaned. Then stretching out of its back, tendrils stretched outward and snaked around as it hissed at them all, "_For sixty years I was bottled up in that book's magic. I couldn't move, couldn't find a host, until that girl read the book_," it chuckled as it continued, "_Her desire to scare was so intoxicating, so positively mouthwatering! I knew she and I were destined to be… soul mates or partners from the start! And now I'll kill all of you to ensure she and I… STAY TOGETHER!"_

As the others stood back and stayed in position, this being Stranger with his hands glowing and crackling with electrical magic, and Alex and Oogie standing behind him for safety, the only one who actually seemed to brave this was Justin. He clenched his fists, looking at the creature that was once his friend; whatever had caused her attitude change… that thing on her was why Courtney was acting so strange before at school. Well, enough was enough now; that mask had to go.

He slowly walked up as he looked defiant at the mask and stated, "Courtney! Listen, you're the only one who can get that mask off!"

It hissed at him as It raised an eyebrow and asked mockingly sarcastically, "_Why would I want to do that, Loser_?" and then lashed at him with a few of the clawed tendrils, cutting at him.

Justin yelled out in pain, the cuts slightly bleeding but only being flesh wounds and nothing too serious. He grunted and backed a little, nearly falling over from getting whipped, and looked at It as he spoke through his gritting teeth, "I'm not talking to_ you_! I'm talking to my friend… Courtney Keller!" he then looked to her, as he tried to reach her somehow, "Come on, Courtney, you can fight this! You're the kind of person that doesn't let people push you around, so why start now!"

For a moment, It just looked at him confused, but then It's face changed from menacing to soft sadness. Then it spoke with Courtney's voice, showing that it had somewhat released It's hold of her temporarily as she whimpered, "I… I can't, Justin… "

"You can beat it, Courtney," Justin said as he slowly walked up to her, "You're one of the strongest people I know. I believe you can beat It. You have to fight it!"

For a moment there, the dark slots that were the Mask's eyes, slightly changed back to Courtney's violet eyes as she somewhat seemed to be gaining a bit of control. But the Mask seemed to be a bit persistent as the violet and black started to change back over and over, almost as if the fight was not in her favor as she fell to her knees, "I… I don't know… if I… can do this…"

Finally, as the Mask's control was slightly slipping, the tendrils slouched, losing their life. Justin was finally next to her, instantly holding her by the shoulders, "Courtney, listen to me… you can do this."

"I… I can't… " she said weakly.

"NO! Don't say what you can or can't do!" Justin told her, his voice starting to fill with worry for her, "Courtney you have to fight It… because… Because you're my friend! I'm not losing you to this thing!"

"But I… all those things I said…. " she weakly stated, holding herself in her arms.

"Courtney, listen," Justin said as he looked at her, "You don't have to handle everything by yourself. That's all you really need, you know. Just someone you can depend on. You don't have to be the Lone Ranger or the Lone Goth Girl at school. And you don't have to torment or scare people because you're afraid they're gonna reject you or you're afraid to be friends with anybody."

"Justin, I… " Courtney responded weakly, not sure of what he was saying but felt touched, "You… you don't understand… what I've been through… "

"Courtney… I think in some way I do understand," Justin answered with a sincere smile, "I know how hard it is to be alone. I was alone a long time too; I didn't have any friends, and was pretty much picked on by everyone else. But then I met you, and that's why now I want to help you." For a moment then, Courtney looked up to Justin with her normal eyes and saw him smile at her, "I'm your friend, Courtney. We all are. You can count on us… and on me… no matter what."

She looked at him, in his face, and in his eyes. She saw that he meant those words, and that he and everyone else would do exactly that. The Mask's rubber skin slowly started to ripple, almost weakening, as she lifted her right hand to his face, almost to touch it gently…

SHNIKT!

Justin screamed out in pain as he was held up by his shoulder… with a tendril protruding out the other side of it. Courtney saw in horror that the Mask had regained control, and it snarled at Justin as he was lifted off the ground, "_YOU! You're the Symbol I need to destroy_!" and then pulling the boy back as he threw him, straight into one of the support pillars of the church, knocking the boy hard in the back. Afterwards, the unconscious Justin slid to the floor, not even moving at all at that point.

Alex, in a state of shock at that scene, shouted to the still form, "Justin!" And he and Oogie immediately ran over to see if their fallen friend was alright.

It cackled out loud with its shoulders hunched over as it held its head high, "_Heheheheh! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that was fun_!" then it looked at the rest of them as it flexed its claws, "_And now for the rest of_…"

The Mask then started to spasm as the right hand clawed the left hand, pulling at the skin. "Get…off…of…ME!" Courtney finally shouted out… as she began to tear off the substance off the mask's skin.

And amazingly, the Mask's flesh started to pull off easily, as Courtney's skin and human features were reappearing once more. The Mask howled out as it tried to talk her out of this, "_No! Courtney, stop this! STOP THIS NOW_," but she didn't stop as she tore the flesh off her other arm, revealing her normal skin under as she threw the Mask's flesh aside.

"NO!" Courtney shouted to the Mask as she reached from behind her and grabbed at the monster flesh on her back, "Get off me… and leave me and my friends alone!" she shouted out again as she tore at her back. The flesh made a sickening flesh-ripping sound as the rubbery monster flesh started to peel off from the pulling. The monster flesh on her legs and feet started to crack and dry up, and then fell to the floor and at her feet like small long dead skin turning into powder.

Finally, she reached for the mask behind her head as she struggled to free herself of it. The Mask squirmed and tried to fight for control once more, but Courtney's desire to remove it was becoming too strong for it to fight. To her it was the most painful moment in her life; it was like she tore her own skin off, and now she was trying to pull off the flesh off her own head. The Mask, desperate to win, pleaded, "_Courtney, please stop_!" it felt its grip on her loosening as she pulled at the back seam, ripping off of her as the back started to tear, and the bottom of it pulling off around her neck collar, "_When we're finally fused together, we'll become the most feared creature ever_! _I'll give you anything you want: Power, immortality, that Rock Star Marilyn Manson! Anything! JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT_!"

Finally, Courtney grunted as she answered, "I… WANT… YOU… OFF!" And with all her newfound strength, she pulled the Haunted Mask off, as she gasped fresh air, being free of its gripping and evil power. She looked down in her hands, seeing the still squirming mask in her hands and threw it aside. She didn't care about the mask anymore as she saw Justin's still form and ran over to him, crying out, "Justin? Justin!"

She stopped as she was close to him and knelt down, grasping at his shoulders as she checked him over. She shook him gently, trying to wake him up as she cried out, "Justin! It's me, Courtney! Please, say something! Open your eyes!" There was no response from the boy as he just lay there, leaning on the support beam with Alex and Oogie at his side. She then gently reached up to his face as she stroked his hair gently. Then a single tear dropped from her eye and down her cheek as she gasped with sadness, in fearing for him due to the bleeding shoulder. She then held him tight to her chest as she buried her face into his bleeding shoulder as she cried out and whimpered, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

However, the heartbreaking moment was ruined as they heard a moaning roar come from the altar… to where Courtney had discarded the Haunted Mask. It had gotten back in motion again as its spider-like appendage bottom scurried towards them, but as it did the bits and pieces that Courtney had removed off of her merged with the mask. Then suddenly, as if it was some bad dream, the Mask stretched out, expanding as it got bigger and bigger. Jutting out of its sides as it widened was a pair of thin 2D arms with three killer black claws on the side as well as a few black spikes on the hands as they stretched out to try and snare anyone that came in reach of it. Its bottom had become something of a tripod with vein-shaped tendrils slashing around at the bottom like tails. Its upper torso puffed out and shrunk in as it looked like flesh being stretched out; almost as if someone was sucking in their gut, exposing their ribcage. On its hunched back, five black massive spike horns jotted out and sticking upward. Finally, the mask's face stretched out as its eye sockets looked more alive, and its mouth stretched out in a vicious grin, its teeth remaining in place as the lips overstretched. Truly, this Haunted Mask now was an even more terrifying sight to behold.

It slithered towards Courtney as it announced in its raspy inhuman voice, "_I still want you Courtney. Even though you've refused me… I STILL WANT YOU_!" And stretched out towards her its right clawed hand, waiting to snatch her away.

Courtney held on to Justin for dear life, as Alex and Oogie nearly paled at this. The Mask then grabbed Courtney's left wrist, as it tried to regain control once again. She struggled to break free of its grasp, even as she shouted, "NO! maybe I wanted what you had. But after tonight and what you really want… I don't want it! Not anymore!"

"You don't have a choice," the Mask bellowed as its other claw reached for her, "You're too good a host to pass up on me now. You're for keeps!"

"Hey, HM!" Alex shouted out as he caught the Monster's attention. He held his camera up as he smirked, "Say cheese!" KER-SNAP! The flash went off, causing the Haunted Mask some distortion from having it go off. But its iron grip on Courtney was just not letting go.

It was at that moment, at seeing Alex defending her, Elsa, Oogie, and Stranger coming to help her, and Justin… reaching out to her like that… that something deep inside of her awoke. At seeing this beast's selfishness, and remembering what it made her do to Justin, she glared at the Mask… and suddenly her eyes started to glow yellowish orange, and a little spark of flame sparked next to her left eye.

Suddenly, the Haunted Mask's right claw suddenly lit on fire, much to Courtney's, and everyone else's belief. The Mask let go of her as it raised its right claw; the appendage still on fire as it waved it around, shouting, "_WHA…? WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?"_

Even Oogi was a little confused as he asked aloud, "Good question," then looked to Stranger as he asked, "How's she doin' that?"

"Her Wiccan Element as awokened," Stranger said, with a pleased smile, "This should make the fight interesting."

Courtney then released her hold on Justin as she stood straight up, her left eye stopped glowing but her right remained brighter than ever. She then curled up her fists as she shouted to the Mask, "Just… Back… OFF!"

And then suddenly, the whole Haunted Mask beast suddenly lit up like a birthday cake. It screamed and hollered as Elsa jumped down from the attic to bear witness to this whole thing. The mask started to chip off as most of its mass started to burn down, shrinking until the flame died down, revealing the mask back to its dormant state. Then suddenly, it evaporated into a thickly green mist, and shot out of the church and straight to Stranger… who held up the book as it shot straight into it as Stranger closed the book on it.

Finally, after the mask was defeated and sealed back into the book, the monsters that were remaining in the room started to spasm as their outer bodies disintegrated. They had then reverted back to their human selves as the masks they were forced to wear fell to the ground, returned back into normal Halloween head masks. And the human hosts, who now wore tattered clothing, fell to the ground completely unconscious.

Courtney's eye stopped glowing as she felt a little woozy, but then looked at Elsa for a moment. She looked a little amazed by that as she stated, "Elsa… y-you're a…" Elsa cringed a little, awaiting a scream of sorts, but was surprised by what she had heard as Courtney smirked tiredly, "… pretty cool monster… for a friend… " and then finally collapsed on the ground as everyone, aside from Stranger, ran towards them.

* * *

Stranger's Halloween Store

Morning

* * *

Courtney stirred awake from sleeping on something soft as she moaned a little. She got up, feeling a blanket fall off her as she rubbed the back of her neck, and saw that she was still in her Elvira outfit. She staggered a bit getting up; thinking that removing the mask may have taken a lot out of her; a lot more than she thought if she felt this sore and tired. But then she saw Oogie curled up next to her. She looked a little amazed by that scene as she wondered, 'Boggarts can sleep up top on the bed?' She shrugged figuring that it would be a mystery to be solved later. But when she turned to her left, she was shocked at what she saw.

Sitting upright, sleeping with his head down, was Justin as he was wearing a clean shirt, but evident that he had a bandaged shoulder. He was still snoozing as Courtney looked at him in amazement, 'I… I can't believe it. He stayed up all night watching over me?'

"He hasn't budged an inch when he finally woke up," Elsa stated, startling Courtney as she turned and saw Elsa and Stranger, standing there. Elsa had returned to her normal self as she sat down next to her and smirked, "It's almost like you two are a couple now."

Courtney's face went red after that accusation as she shook her head and denied the whole thing as she shouted, "WH-WH-WHAAAA? What are you talking about?" She huffed as she turned her head sharply from her as she calmed down and asked, "By the way… what happened to the Haunted Mask?"

"Returned to the Book, thanks to you, Courtney," Stranger said as he still retained his deadpan face, "If your Wiccan abilities hadn't awakened yet, I'm sure I'd have done your job for you."

"My… Wiccan abilities?" Courtney asked, seemingly confused by what Stranger had mentioned, "Wait! What are you…?" but then last night came rushing back to her as she looked to them and asked, "Wait! I mean… h-how…"

"You did say so yourself that you were related to Wiccans, didn't you?" Stranger asked, sensing the girl's confusion through all this.

But then Courtney nodded but denied, "Yeah, but I'm only 1/16th in the family of that bloodline. And even if I did, how…?"

"My guess is when the Haunted Mask was taking possession of you, it awoke what laid dormant within yourself," Stranger answered as he and Elsa sat down on the bed, as he went on, "Sometimes in contact with the Strange and Unusual can cause that which is inside of us… to awaken from dormancy," he then looked to Courtney seriously as he replied, "It happened to me when I was much younger than you, and I needed to constantly learn on how to control that power," he then looked to Courtney sincerely, "So… what's your decision on returning the creatures to the book?"

Courtney looked to Stranger and asked slightly nervous, "If I say no… will you kill me?"

Stranger chuckled at that as Elsa scooted over to her new friend and placed a reassured hand on her shoulder, "No, it's not our style. We've either convinced you of the dangers of letting those creatures loose, or we haven't."

Courtney looked at the two, and then she looked at Oogie, and then finally Justin as he sat asleep there. She had even thought about her experience with the Haunted Mask, and wouldn't even wish on. And finally, she smiled as she still looked at Justin, "Count me in then."

"Good," Stranger answered as he got up and walked towards the doorway, "We'll begin tomorrow or as soon as you're well enough."

"Good enough for what?" Courtney asked.

Stranger stopped as he turned towards the girls, and smirked a little as he answered, "Your Wiccan training."Amityville Cemetery

**Next Chapter: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up**

* * *

Same Time

* * *

"WHERE THE HECK ARE WE?" Shouted out a miffed out Priscilla, as she stood with only a raggedly towel that could cover her front, leaving the rest of her in her birthday suit, as well as her friends, Stacie and Tabitha, as they tried to huddle together, sharing a towel, as they too were in the buff, in the middle of the cemetery. "AND WHY THE HECK ARE WE ALL NAKED?" Priscilla stated, as the trio huddled together, near a trio of torn masks of two harpies and a were-fox.

* * *


	10. Sucs U B Us pt1

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up**

* * *

**Few Days Later**

**Amityville Junior High**

* * *

The school was hustling and bustling as it always did every day in the 'Town of Halloween'. However, another scene went a little unnoticed by anyone, as Courtney Keller came walking through the crowd and to her locker. She put in her combination and opened it; revealing inside a few gothic decorations in it as she went for her books. However as she did, she noticed someone standing right next to her. She turned and smiled as she was next to none other than her recovered friend, Justin.

"Hey," she casually smiled, almost for the first time as she asked, "So how's the shoulder been holding up?"

"Oh, not that bad," Justin groaned a bit as he rubbed his sore left shoulder, "Though it's still a little sore, somewhat," he groaned as he half-smirked, "Took me a while jus to come up with a believable story on how I got the injury to my aunt."

Courtney couldn't help but smirk at that, or at him. Out of all the people that could have gone to help her in her time of need, it was him that pulled her out of that nightmare. From what Stranger had told him, she needed a symbol of Love to pull her out of the darkness that the Mask had thrown her inside of. And even though she had her mother and brother, her symbol of Love, the apparent symbol that she needed… was friendship.

And in just a few seconds or so, she surprised him by jumping at him, and hugging him. Slightly startled by the hug, Justin asked, "Um… okay… what's with the hugging?"

"Just a temporary thing for now," Courtney answered as she rested her head on his shoulder, "Just to let you know this is a 'thank you' from a few nights ago."

Justin just smirked at that as he returned the hug, but only until something interrupted, "Man, aren't you two gettin' romantic here?" the two pulled away for a moment to see Oogie pop out a little from Courtney's backpack and have him smirk up a storm, "since when did you two get so lovey-dovey?"

But before that could have been responded from an obvious source of denial from both of the teens, they had another problem walking towards them as Oogie hid for cover back in Courtney's backpack. Storming down their way, was a flustered Priscilla, all clothed up and fuming over what had happened to her a few days ago, waking up stark naked in the middle of the Amityville graveyard, along with her two best friends, and having no memory of how or why they were there and like that in the first place. Somehow they had gotten home without anyone noticing, but somehow a teen or two had seen them, and had spread rumors of the three streaking. Nothing was ever confirmed, but it did make the gossip go around, and it did spread a laugh or two among the girls, as well as a few perverted stares from the guys.

Both Stacie and Tabitha were embarrassed to the extreme, but Priscilla was fuming like a volcano at this point. If the cockroach thing at the Halloween Dance wasn't bad enough, this was like breaking a camel's back in several pieces. Priscilla didn't have any evidence to point this at anyone, but she knew, or rather hunched on it, that Keller had something to do what had happened to her. Ruining her night as Pumpkin Queen was one thing to do to her, but somehow leaving her stranded in the nude in a graveyard with her best friends drugged was another thing entirely.

She spotted Keller, standing at her locker, and in the arms of that dweeb, Justin Seyvont, slightly. The two broke apart as they tried to look like nothing happened, but Priscilla didn't care much about that. She stopped only a few inches from out of Courtney's face as she snarled at Courtney, "I know it was you, Keller."

Courtney looked confused as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Um… okay? What was it that you think I did this time?"

"Don't… play dumb," Priscilla stated as she leaned in near Courtney's face and whispered out menacingly, "You somehow drugged me and my friends, making us forget whatever happened before or after that… and left us in the Amityville graveyard…. Stark Naked!"

Courtney and Justin both knew the real truth, but had not realized who the three others, the Harpies and the Were-Fox were. Outside, they were a little shocked but hid that with clueless ness, but on the inside, they were laughing their heads off at the idea of Priscilla running from the Cemetery to her home, trying to hide herself considering she was exposed. Deciding not to tell her, Courtney simply shrugged, "Sorry, Pris. But I think you've got the wrong person…"

"_IT_…. _was_ you, Keller," Priscilla nearly accused, nearly jabbing her finger into Courtney's collar bone; "Why else would you leave early a few days ago? Just so you could plan to get even that way!"

It was then that Justin stepped in to defend her, "How could she when she was at work that day?" Priscilla and Courtney turned towards Justin as he replied, "She had to leave early that day in order to get to work. Her boss needed her right away to deal with a shipment; she was even given permission to leave early, but most of the teachers didn't get the message."

Priscilla stopped there for a moment, and then finally calmed down a bit. She did, however, growl for a moment under her breath as she backed away, not having the time for a full-blown fight at this point. Josh wasn't here to do most of that yet, considering he was at practice, which she should be doing right now at the Cheerleading Squad. She and the girls started to walk away, but Priscilla didn't break her eye-contact away from Courtney as she threatened, "I _will_ get you for it. Whether you didn't do it or not…. _You_… are _so_ dead, Keller," and they walked away towards their class.

Afterwards, the two were left alone as they sighed in relief, getting out of that sticky and hairy situation. The two slumped to the lockers as they sighed in relief. However, Courtney shot back up as she heard a grunting sound, almost as if somebody got crushed or squashed. Out of her backpack, popped out Oogie as he gasped from being crushed in the backpack, "Thanks, Court. Thanks a lot for nearly crushing me like that."

"Sorry about that," Courtney apologized, and then turned towards Justin, "So… I'll meet you back at the Halloween Store?"

"Yeah, no problem," Justin nodded as he walked towards his class, "But I've gotta stop at the museum for a moment. I need to visit my aunt on a daily basis once in a while."

"You don't see your aunt?" Courtney asked, not understanding the situation.

"She stays after work doing her research," Justin answered truthfully, "So she's barely at the house, but only on holidays, so it's just me and her cat, Tavey."

Courtney thought about it, and then smirked as she began to walk towards her class as well, "Well… I'll stop over some time and we can hang out a little."

Justin smirked at that as he nodded, "Sounds good. Maybe… this Saturday?"

"Sounds good," Courtney answered as the two walked towards their separate classes for the day. However, the two didn't notice a figure hidden in the shadows, spying on them… especially on Justin as whoever it was, disappeared in the shadows and out of sight from anyone else that was there that moment in time.

* * *

**Amityville Museum**

* * *

The building that was Amityville Museum looked just like the museum from Detroit, one of the biggest in the US. Here, this one rivaled with the one in Detroit, but also had with it its own unique show pieces, entitled, Supernatural Exhibit. There it showcased pieces that came from nearly halfway around the world; all of them were artifacts and showcases and pieces that stemmed from the world of Monsters, Witches, Ghosts and Goblins that most creeds and religions feared in the Dark. In truth, it was a museum for the world of History, as well as the history of Halloween and the Unknown.

Justin made his way inside as he walked past the front door guard, Freddie, an African American Joe in his fifties, physically fit and friendly as he waved t him, "Hey, Justin."

"Hey, Fred," Justin called out casually as he strode on in.

As he walked down the hallway, he stopped at the Supernatural exhibit. And for a little humor, he decided to go on in there as he walked through the door as he came across the exhibit. As he walked in there, he was slightly amazed at how much artifacts were in the place; it nearly rivaled Stranger's Halloween Shop. Though there were some artifacts that rivaled that in Stranger's store; such as a strange little golden Rubix cube, a black stone-tablet book with a golden twin, and a strange cryptix-like container, along with a variety of a few carvings that belonged to South America. But as he reached another path, he noticed something of interest.

He curiously walked towards a glass-case show box, containing a rather unusual showcase of jewelry. Only three pieces of jewelry were shown, but showed only two pieces were missing at this point. But the one piece that caught his interest was a watch-shaped bracelet, designed for male decoration. The bracelet was silver and vein-like in its design, almost giving it an eerie design, but the eeriest thing about the bracelet, was the yellow cat's eye jewel in the center of it, giving it the design of a watch of sorts.

"That, young man, would be the Kinsmir-blade," an elderly but friendly man, who was in a wheelchair, rolled on in next to Justin. He was in a pair of khakis as well as a brown sweater with dress hoes and reading glasses, so it was obvious this man was a professor in this place.

"Professor Birch," Justin smiled as the elderly man stopped right next to him as he looked at him and the bracelet and asked, "Um, Kinsmir-Blade? Don't think I've ever heard of that."

"Well, it's one of the few discoveries we found in the outskirts to which was once one of the Cradles of Life here on Earth," Professor Birch began to explain to the young lad who was like a grandson to him, due to him being the nephew of one of his friends, "The Kinsmir-Blade was forged as a balance to end the warring between the two races that were constantly at each other's throats. The two races were the Vampires… and the Lycans, or Werewolves as they were usually called by. A blood feud that had been raging on since the days of ancient Sumeria that was of separate causes. The vampires, who were led by the true First, Dagon, were fighting for control of power over the human race, which they believed to be nothing for food and slavery, while the Lycans fought for some unknown sense of vengeance for a crime done to their leader, Lycos or William as he was later called, the First Lycan ever. Though after several battles and countless bloodshed, the two species decided to end the war by creating_ the_ Balance. Fusing their blood into a topaz jewel and embedding it into a silver bracelet, the Kinsmir-Blade was born from the power of the two elders, Dagon and Lycos. It's said the Blade was forged with both the two elder's power infusing and combined into it, making it the most powerful weapon to their world. Though it couldn't be wielded by either one, but only by a chosen few over the time… one of them being King Arthur, in which the blade was once called Excalibur. Considering the date of this thing and due to the fossil testing of the minerals on the bracelet, it would have to be six or seven thousand years old, dating all the way back to Ancient Sumerian."

Justin looked at the bracelet as he asked and pointed to it, "So it's a weapon?"

"Well, yes. And from the text, stating to be a very powerful one at that," Professor Birch stated as he adjusted his glasses, "Combined from the power of Dagon and Lycos, the First of their kinds, it's said to carry the power of both a Vampire and Werewolf, making its symbiotic host extremely powerful to fight both at the same time. It is said that when used, it will encompass its user in an indestructible armor of sorts, capable of creating any tool to battle its foe, but most notably taking the form of swords and shields in some cases. Anything to ensure it's users survival; though the consciousness of the weapon is proven to be a bit temperamental in some cases if it chooses to be."

It was then that he looked at Justin's face; it was squinted into a look of deep thought as he looked at the bracelet. Birch smirked as he raised an eyebrow, "You've got that look on your face, kiddo."

"Huh?" Justin shook out of it as he smirked half-asleep, "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about what you were saying," he then straightened out as he asked, "By the way, is Aunt Margo in? I just wanted to see if she's coming home tonight."

"Probably not, thanks to that slug, Greg Lee," Birch explained as he sighed, mentioning his aunt's rival, Greg Lee, "That bozo, Lee's going after another grant that your mother needs. Though I think she's just a little more annoyed about the museum funding another supernatural artifact exhibition than on her DNA extrapolation program."

"Yeah," Justin sighed as he put his hands in his pocket on that notion, "If she found me here, she'd be throwin' a hissy fit to the extreme that would lead to her say the following: Using superstition to bring people to the museum is like hiring topless ushers for the Bolshoi Ballet."

The Professor chuckled as he asked, "Well, you'd know what response I'd give to that?"

"What?"

"I wish they would, I might start going to the Ballet more often," after that the two chuckled at that little joke as soon as that was said. After which was when Justin was on his way out, considering his aunt was busy. Birch waved goodbye as he saw the young lad out, "I'll give your love to your aunt for ya."

"Thanks, professor," and Justin left on his way out, leaving the Supernatural Wing of the museum. However, if either one had noticed it before, they would have seen the Kinsmir-Blade looking right at Justin… the jeweled eye tracing his movement out of the room… and then blinked for only a second as Birch left as well, never taking its eye off of Justin until he was out of sight.

* * *

**Outside**

* * *

Justin was making his way down the stairway of the museum as he was preparing to go on his way home. However, something… or rather someone… stopped him as he heard a fainting swooning sound. He dropped his bag and ran down the stairway and around the building. He then saw the source of the fainting spell as he saw who it was.

It was a girl, on her knees and leaning on the side of the building, where no one was at that time. The girl looked to be fifteen years old, Caucasian, slim but very slender, with clean smooth skin… but the odd thing about her was that she had long light green hair that went down her back, and a bang that slightly covered her right eye. But in truth, the girl was a regular bombshell if any. She was wearing a black tank-top with a white sweater on top that didn't cover her shoulders, a blue mini-skirt that ended above her ankles, a belt that dangled on her hips to one side, and brown shoes with loose-fitting socks. In truth, this girl was a complete bombshell if any.

Justin got to her as he knelt down beside her, "Hey, are you… are you okay?"

Then the girl, who looked like she had suffered from anemia, slowly looked up to him. When she opened her eyes, she revealed to him that her eye color was a dazzling pinkish ruby red. At that moment, Justin blushed at that as he helped the girl up, realizing she was pretty light due to her petite size of being two centimeters small than him. He blushed a little more as she looked to him all innocently, and then a few garbled thoughts ran into his head, 'Wow! She's… really… cute! I've never seen a girl this cute before!'

The girl wobbled a little until she was standing up straight, thanks to Justin. She lightly touched her forehead as she looked to her rescuer and lightly spoke in a soft voice to him, "Oh, thank you so much," she then placed a hand on Justin's chest, which made him a little nervous at this point as she swayed at him, "I've… I've always been a little delicate. Ever since I was a little girl, you see," she then got a little close to him as she seemed to… press up… against him, causing him to blush as she stated, "And it's gotten worse when I matured. It's my chest… I get these spasms, and my chest feels so tight," and then pressed up to him a little more as she finished, "It just feels like it could burst. You know?"

At this point, Justin's brain was going haywire at this point. Here he was, standing there with a very attractive girl, pressing up against him, and he was blushing like crazy. His mind was going all haywire and fumbled up a bit a she tried to squish up to him, causing his thoughts to mumble out, 'Chest. Burst. Burst. Chest,' but at the realization on what he was thinking, he shook his mind of it as he shouted in his head, "Oh wait! Bad boy, bad boy! Idiot! What am I thinking here?"

"Please…" the girl said, getting Justin's attention once more, "Could you… could you look at me… into my eyes…" Justin snapped out of it, just to look into the girl's eyes as she smiled to him with a blush, "I'm Lilith Morrigan. Let's be friends… okay?" And only noticed by Justin, a strange shimmer appeared into her eyes. When Justin saw this, his eyes went dull and lifeless, almost as if he was falling asleep or going into a daze.

And when her eyes stopped shimmering, Justin… had this uncontrollable urge to hug and hold her in his arms. And he did so as he instantaneously hugged her, causing her to cry out in a giggle or two, "Ooo! What are you doing? You naughty boy!" and hugged him right back, progressively enjoying every second of it.

However, at that time, who would have known that walking down that way was Elsa. She had gone out of her way for Stranger to run an errand to a store to get some food supplies. It was only that she stopped at a crosswalk did she see it. Justin was walking away towards into town… with a girl linking her arms around him… and it wasn't even Courtney.

Before she was spotted, Elsa hid behind the lamppost to where the crosswalk was, though rather unsuccessfully. She saw them leave the area; with the girl giggling as did Justin at some unheard joke of sorts. As she saw them disappear into the crowds, Elsa looked disheartened at this. Justin and Courtney had just officially become friends in somewhat manner, but in some stranger deep-seeded idea that she had, she thought that the two would probably become something… more than friends.

She looked saddened as she whispered, "What am I gonna tell Courtney…?"

* * *

**Next Chapter: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up pt.2**


	11. Sucs U B Us pt2

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up pt.2**

* * *

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

**West Wing; Library Wing**

* * *

Deep in the Library of the store, Courtney sat on the floor, with her shoes off and on a purple blanket. She was sitting up straight with her legs crossed, all Indian style with her hands on her knees, and her eyes closed gently as she sat in front of a Japanese electric blanket table. On top of it, in a horizontal line on top of the desk, were four candles, burning bright right in front of her. However, the odd thing was that the light and flames of the candles began to increase and decrease like a pattern… all tuned in to Courtney's rhythmic breathing. Her face was calm and concentrated on this little exercise to ensure she could control her Wiccan Element, which was mainly fire.

Oogie, who was laying down on his stomach with two of his tails acting as a mattress, watched her in boredom. He was currently sucking on a lint-infested sock as he groaned, "This… has been going on for over fifteen minutes," he then put the sock down as he plopped his face onto his mattress-fluffed tails as he groaned, "How long is this gonna go on, Courtney?"

"As soon as I've mastered the little stuff," Courtney calmly responded, "You don't want me to set the whole building on fire when I try to let the flames dance on my arms, do ya?" So far Courtney had learned to slowly but surely master her Wiccan Elemental magic. Unfortunately, she was nowhere near able to master the large stuff as of yet; the large stuff being fire blasts or turning her whole body into a flaming human torch, just like in the comic books.

At that point, without her knowing it or not breaking her concentration, Stranger walked in to restock some of the empty bookshelves. Although he kept an eye on Courtney, just to be sure she wouldn't break control at any given time. However, that control at this point was slightly disrupted as soon as someone came running into the room. It was Elsa, fresh back from her grocery errand as she walked towards Courtney, slightly out of breath and in desperate need to tell her friend about something of great importance.

"Sheesh, Elsa," Oogie sighed out, as he got up and looked at the Frankenstein girl, "What's with the sweating at the triathlon?"

"The only reason you should even be interrupting my exercise," Courtney said in a deeply annoyed silky voice, "Is if there's a monster on the loose."

"Well, not exactly," Elsa answered, finally catching her breath, but seemed to act a little nervous. Not on how she interrupted her friend's concentrated exercise, but on the news she needed to tell her, "It's Justin."

"The J-Man?" Oogie asked, using the nickname that he had given to the boy, "Don't tell me those jocks have him pulled up by his underwear on a flagpole? That's too immature and painful for any prank… and terrible for the underwear. I mean, come on. Even the washing machine won't be able to get that bad taste out, even for the lint."

"No, no," Elsa waved her hands in defense on it, "He's not in any danger," and then for a moment, she and Oogie thought they heard a sigh of relief come from Courtney on that, but then she paled, "But you might not like what I'm about to tell you. So… don't get upset. _Too_ upset about this."

Courntey just sighed and responded calmly, "Elsa, the reason I'm taking deep-breathing exercises is to try and keep a calm and cool head about me," her breathing never changed at this, neither did the flames increase and decrease at all while she talked, "Keeping a level head is the key to controlling the Element of Fire. Whatever you're gonna tell me, I'm sure I can take it with quiet, dignity, and grace."

"Okay," Elsa sighed out, taking a deep breath as she just came out and said it, "Justin's with a girl… and they were getting all lovey-dovey."

Suddenly, Courtney's eyes opened pretty quickly, and she shouted out loud, "WHAT?!"

Suddenly the four candles flared up towards the ceiling, the cause being Courtney's anger enflaming her power. She stood up quickly and turned around to face a freaked out Elsa and Oogie, as Stranger walked over there, as calm and cool as a cucumber.

Stranger turned away from the flames, as his face didn't change the expression that it always had on his face. He turned away from the flames as they started to subside a little. He then pulled one of the books out as he began to fan himself with it and joked, "You really should open a window in here when you lose your temper," and then strode out of there, leaving the girls to themselves in this little boyfriend chat.

Courtney turned to look at Elsa as she asked in an interrogating tone, "What… do you mean Justin and some girl was getting all lovey-dovey?"

"Well… they were sort of acting that way," Elsa stated, crossing her arms and scratching her chin, thinking on it with a little uncertainty on her face, "Though from what I saw on Justin's face as they walked away from the museum… he didn't seem like himself."

Courtney raised an eyebrow as she angrily placed her hands on her hips and interrogated, "You said he and this girl were getting all romantic wise. So which was it, was he putting the moves on her or what?"

"If you ask my opinion," Oogie mumbled as he cleaned out his ear, and looked at his finger, "The boy better be careful around women. Especially strange ones like you two."

It was then that he felt a chill go down his little spine as he slowly turned around. The little Boogey Monster then paled at the two frightening visages he saw now as his fur suddenly paled up. Courtney's eyes were glowing bright yellowish orange as both of her bawled up fists were aflame and burning hotter, without singing her sleeves at all. Elsa's eyes were sparking with electricity, as her metallic forearms and fists shot out; her fists clenching tightly as her metallic fists clenched tightly making the sounds of wrenching metal together.

The two then growled at the small Boggart as they threateningly asked, "Who are you calling 'strange'?"

"Nothing," Oogie squeaked as his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull as the girls finally calmed down a bit. He sighed in relief as the color returned back on his face, 'Note to self: never tick these girls off. It'll be the end of me.'

After the two had calmed down, and Elsa retracted her armored gauntlets, Courtney looked to Elsa as she suggested, "I think we should keep an eye on this girl… just in case. If she's a girl at the school, we'll know about it."

"Why?" Elsa asked, feeling a little worried about this idea, "I mean, she's probably human. And I won't be much good at the school, considering I'm not enrolled there."

After hearing that, Courtney was a little surprised and bummed out as she thought of a change in the plan, "Well, I could just tell anyone who asks that you're, um… exploring an option at wanting to enroll there," but then she asked, "You've never… been in a high school?"

"Well, you know, the whole not aging thing," Elsa answered, not being bothered a bit, but then shyly pointed to her neck, "And there's the neck bolts. Kind of hard to keep hidden when you're trying out for swim classes."

* * *

**Next Day**

**Amityville Junior High**

**English Class**

* * *

The day went the same as always at the High School of Amityville Junior High. However, one exception was two girls and an unsuspecting furball hidden in one of their backpacks, were wandering around the campus grounds and buildings searching for a certain mystery girl. Courtney had checked ever classroom and class sessions and even tried out some of the clubs that a girl like that would have been in. Elsa, who wasn't registered into the school, kept a low key profile within the cafeteria, PE grounds, and on the rooftop, keeping an eye out in case the girl might have popped up. And Oogie… considering his size, he was able to look into the ventilation shaft and look into the lockers and bathrooms… despite the search being a little perverted on some points. Unfortunately, their search all had one thing in common: the mystery girl wasn't spotted anywhere in the high school campus grounds.

However, things changed as soon as Courtney left for English class. As soon as she entered, she saw Justin, sitting at his desk, and looking out the window. She smiled brightly, knowing that nothing bad had happened to him. But as soon as she walked forward, she noticed someone sitting next to her desk, and looking at Justin with a longing in their eyes. unknown to whom it was, it was the girl, Lilith Morrigan, and as Courtney walked over to her desk, Lilith looked at her with a sort of vindictive vicious nature. Unknown to Justin at this point, though he felt a chill up his spine at this second, the moment Courtney sat down and made eye-contact between the new girl, sparks suddenly shot back and forth between the girls.

However, that tension broke as soon as Lilith smirked and whispered to Courtney, as the class was going on, "My, my. A huge coincidence being in the same classroom, eh?" and then turned her attention towards Justin, "Also in the same classroom as Justin's in, eh?"

"Yeah," Courtney mumbled sarcastically, as she nearly broke her mechanical pencil in half, "What a coincidence. Even when I couldn't find you anywhere around in the whole school."

It was then that Lilith just giggled in embarrassment as she smirked, "Oh that. I just overslept, that's all. Justin and I did have a really exhausting night," she then blushed in delight as she answered, "It was the most exhilarating moment of my entire teenage life."

Courtney nearly paled at that in both shock and disgust at this, 'Last… night? Exhausting? Wha-What did they do?' it was then that a horrifying thought came into her head as she paled even more, clutching her head in dread, 'No way! He… she… they wouldn't have done… IT… last night!' but then she looked at Justin, saddened, and then in defeat at a smirking and blushing Lilith, "Wha-What did you…?"

"We went on a whole studying spree last night. He even helped me with my baking assignment for Cooking Class," Lilith answered holding her burning red cheeks, blushing embarrassment as she sighed in pleasured delight, "Who knew that he was such a talented boy. Good-looking, smart with homework and mechanics like he told me, and he even knows how to cook. He's an absolute dreamboat; it's a mystery why none of the girls on campus even try to put the moves on him," and causing Courtney to nearly fall over out of her chair, sweat dropping at this. After seeing this, Lilith giggled a little and asked in a whisper, "Oh, come on. What did you think we were doing?"

"Nothing," Courtney grumbled, not liking the idea that she was made into a complete idiot on thinking _that_. She then locked eye-to-eye with Lilith as she asked, "So who are you… and what exactly is your relationship with Justin?"

Lilith smirked as she winked and pointed at Courtney playfully, "The name's Lilith Morrigan, sister," and then pointed to Justin, "And as for Justin… why don't you wait for me at the stairway, and I'll tell you exactly what the relationship is."

The two girls just locked into each other's eyes, a sudden spark of rivalry/competitive nature locked between the two. It was almost as if sparks of electricity were shooting out towards them. But as the two were sizing up to scratch one another's faces off, Justin was going over on what happened yesterday.

'What happened? The whole day, I just spent time with that girl, Lilith,' Justin told himself, going on over in his head as he took notes during the class, 'I even went to her apartment yesterday and we studied together. And during the whole time, she was putting the moves on me constantly,' he grumbled to himself as he grimaced Courtney's arrival. At first he thought she'd get PO'ed at him, but she seemed more likely to get into a catfight with that new girl, Lilith. He sighed as he told himself, 'I need to talk to Courtney later after class.'

As both Courtney and Lilith looked at one another in competing rivalry of sorts, Lilith looked at Courtney a little evilly as she thought, 'Just a little more….'

It was just then that the school bell rang signaling the class to be over with. Justin got up as he turned around… only to find both of the girls gone. He then gulped at this, "Oh, this is not good."

* * *

**Afterwards**

* * *

Classes were done with and it was nearly the end of the day. However, for two girls and a fluffy and cute Boogey monster, the day wasn't over yet. Courtney and Elsa were leaning near the wall to where the stairway was at, while Oogie waited in the backpack, though peeked a bit from inside as he muttered to himself, 'Something's not right about this Lilith girl,' he then scratched his fuzzy chin in deep thought on this one, 'There's something odd about that girl though. Almost… monster-like…'

"I can't believe this," Courtney fumed as she snapped open a soda can, and drank it, "That over-the-hills floozy. She thinks she can just use Justin like some sort of homework buddy/slave! I've got the right mind to clobber her on the head and to cut off her scalp in the process," she then finished her can of soda as she nearly crushed it with just one hand as she fumed out even more, "And then there's Justin! Geez, he's completely gone head over heels for her! What was all that talk about being there for me, or I'll never give up on you? He just talks smooth just for show! That jerk! Stupid-head! Dummy!"

Elsa looked at Courtney questionably, and then absentmindedly asked, "Um, Courtney? Form the way you're talking, it sounds like you've got a…"

"It is _so_ imperative that you don't finish that sentence, Elsa," Courtney warned her, giving her a look telling her to not go that far.

"So… you two are a Wiccan and a Frankenstein Monster, eh?" a voice called up from the stairway, causing the two to look upward. There, they saw Lilith sitting on the railing with her legs crossed and looking down at them with a smug smirk on her face, "Those are at least a few of the rumors, surrounding the Book of Goosebumps protectors," and then she hopped off the railing, causing some of the students, who didn't hear what she said, to look in horror as she fell off the stairs.

Then in a surprising turn of events, she landed gracefully in a crouched position, and then stood upright in front of the two girls, letting go of their shock. Some of the boys whispered out on that the girl was a petite beauty, next to Priscilla, whom was absent at this point. However, the two girls ignored the boys drooling over the new girl as Lilith smirked and placed a hand on her hip as she smirked at the two, "So… you both want to know what I want. It's simple: I'm going to take Justin away from you, Courtney Keller," she then grinned seductively as she placed her index finger on her lip, "Of course… we could share him, if you're up to it."

Courtney, Elsa, and even Oogie misunderstanding what she had just said to them. Courtney paled at this as she thought, 'Oh, she's that king of girl!'

Elsa, being the naïve one, was the only one to think out loud as she blushed madly at the complications of the information she had just heard, "you mean 'you… and Justin… and Courtney'… together? I didn't think you into _that_ kind of relationship and all, but…"

Lilith had a look of shock and panic on her face, realizing she had misled what she was trying to make her point. So she shouted, "NO THAT'S NOT IT! LISTEN UP; I LOVE BOYS AND ONLY BOYS!" She had calmed down now and was blushing at the thought of boys.

The two just looked at her deeply confused until Elsa asked, "Then what to you want Justin for?"

Lilith struck a seductive pose and explained, "It's a simple yet master plan of mine, ever since I came here. I intend to turn the entire school campus into my personal harem… and to turn all the boys into my love slaves," this slight bit of information caused the two girls, as well as anyone else to overhear this plan, to pale in shock, as she continued, "It would have been a flawless plan… if the guys didn't go for that skank, Priscilla Wright."

"Yeah, she can be a pain alright," Courtney pointed out, "At least that's one thing we can agree on."

Lilith then smirked as she pointed out, "And that's where Justin comes in. a good-looking girl, hanging around a semi-cute fellow like that will only advertise one thing and one thing only: Boys desire what they can't have," she then placed her hands behind her head as she shrugged, "When they see me with him, all the boys will drop whatever skank they're hanging out and come flocking… to me… right after I dump Justin's butt like a sack of potatoes."

The girls had listened to the whole thing, and realized that this girl was a major player. And what was worse, she was going to drag Justin down with her. Courtney, seething with anger on her part, heard enough and couldn't stomach this, "Pervert, you're sick! You can't do that to Justin, even if you tried to sweet talk it! He doesn't have anything to do with this! Any bit of it!"

Lilith shot back, "So what? I don't care about what happens to him, as long as I'm the one who's happy here!"

It was then that between the two girls, a fiery aura was around them, emphasizing the jealousy and anger that was directed towards one another. Even Elsa and Oogie saw this as she gulped, "Those two are going at each other with a huge unhealthy dose of jealousy."

"I think it's more of a rivalry than jealousy, sister," Oogie muttered in the backpack, but then gulped a little, "Though I doubt this storm could get any bigger."

"There you are, Courtney," Justin called out as he ran over to the girls, getting their attention, especially Lilith, "I was looking all over for you girls. You just took off after class."

"I take it back," Oogie gulped, "This'll be hell; a real downpour of blood over on this end."

"Justin…", Courtney smiled, a little relieved to see her first friend ever.

Justin, looking a little ashamed about what had happened, nervously tried to apologized, "Um, look, Courtney… about what happened with me and Lilith…"

But then suddenly, Lilith ran over to Justin and embraced him in a hug, as she cheered, "Justin, my hero!" she then snuggled up as she rubbed her cheek up to his, "Oh, I missed you so much!"

Not really in the mood for it, Justin lightly pulled her away as he started out, "Sorry, Lilith, but I really need to talk to Courtney," however, Lilith wasn't about to give up yet, as she looked at him in the eye with her eyes shimmering. Suddenly, Justin felt that strange control over him, 'Oh no, not again,' and his eyes suddenly glazed over in a trance. It was then that he smirked at Lilith and then spoke out in a deadpan voice, and pulled a smirking Lilith back into his arms, "I'm sorry… I guess there wasn't anything to talk about…"

Courtney couldn't believe this as she shook her head and pointed out, "Justin, don't! Get away from her."

"Eh, why?" Justin asked as Lilith rested her head on his chest, hiding her conniving smirk from Courtney and Elsa, but not from Oogie.

"Why?" Courtney asked, not believing that this was happening, "It's because she's dangerous! She's just using you!"

"There's no such thing," Justin answered, still in his daze.

Then Lilith turned towards Courtney as she pointed out, "You know, I just noticed a while ago… I heard you were kind of the loner type, Keller," this caused Courtney to flinch at that part, remembering her lonely life, as Lilith continued, "I'm starting to wonder if you're just using both Justin here, and the redheaded skunk-head next to you as an excuse to show that you can be like everyone else. I mean, anyone who didn't have friends would be just… inhuman."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Courtney shouted, as she started to become even more worried about what this girl was saying, "I'm not using them or anything, I just…"

"She's right, you know," Justin spoke out, shouting in his head to stop, 'STOP, DON'T SAY IT!' Lilith turned away and smirked, making a V-sign for her upcoming victory, as Justin spoke out hypnotized still, "Maybe that's the reason why you befriended me," Courtney looked shocked by this, with a hint of fear and sadness on her face, as Elsa and Oogie just looked shocked by this, as the hypnotized Justin finished, "I guess I'm just a cover-up for your inhuman behavior around the school."

This earned a huge rumoring crowd from the students present in the hallway. However, Courtney didn't care about that as she nearly staggered behind, letting what Justin had just said to her sink in. "You're… you're wrong, Justin… " Courtney weakly said, as two tears suddenly ran down her cheeks. And then finally, she grabbed her backpack and ran out of there, crying quietly and softly.

"Ah! Courtney, wait!" Elsa called up, but looked at Justin as she shot him a look, "You should be ashamed of what you just said!" and then high-tailed it right after Courtney.

Lilith just smirked at this little victory; she was still in Justin's arms as she snickered at this whole scene of events. She lightly chuckled at this, seeing the look and the tears go down her former competition's face, 'Courtney Keller… you've been smashed!'

* * *

**Later On**

**Outside**

* * *

Courtney was sitting under a shaded tree, with her knees pulled up to her, and resting her head on them. Oogie was out of the backpack, patting Courtney by the leg, considering it was the only part aside from the shoulder. She had taken what Justin told her pretty hard; in fact, she couldn't get any more depressed by it any further. It was pretty much at that point; she started to wonder why she had become friends in the first place… friends with anyone at all, if she was the one using them completely.

It was just then Elsa ran up and found them both, and looked distraught by her friend like this. She knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking saddened at her friend like this. "You alright?" Elsa asked, getting only Courtney shaking her head in a negative, "Well, I'm sure he didn't mean to say that. Don't forget with the Mask and all. He nearly risked his own life to pull you out of there."

"Well, yeah but," Courtney started as she lifted her head up, showing her tear-filled eyes, "Now that I think about it… I mean, what kind of friend am I if he does all the saving?"

"Will you both snap out of it already?" Oogie snapped at the two, getting their attention, "This is hardly the time to get depressed!"

"Oogie!" Elsa started, trying to comfort her friend and scold the other, "Justin's acting like a real jerk, Courtney's in tears, and now you're…"

"The only reason Justin's acting like a jerk is because of that enchantment done onto him by that succubus," the girls didn't know what Oogie was talking about, giving him a clueless look on their faces. Oogie just groaned as he scurried over to the backpack, and pulled out the Book of Goosebumps, "Here! Check the book if you don't know what I'm talking about."

Courtney reluctantly took the book and opened it up, looking over the pages. "Here we are, on page 44," Courtney pointed out as they were looking at the illustration of a beautiful female with wings and a devil's tail, as well as small batwing-like ears on top of the head, "The Succubus, or Succubi, are a race of demons who take the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men. Though they are commonly known as dream demons, they enter the dreams of men to have sexual intercourse."

"Powerful masters of illusions, they are able to change their forms into different females in order to seduce their targets, or kill them with very powerful illusions. As for their sustenance, they draw energy from the men in order to sustain their energies, often to the point of exhaustion or death of the victim. Though this is not always their main sustenance; they have proven to actually create a secreted liquid in their own brain that is produced when dreaming, allowing them to go on for a century without hunting," Courtney sighed, "Well, that's good news," but then read on.

"Their blood and saliva have a powerful lustful effect, whilst their body odor causes blood vessels to dilate and causes a large amount of perspiration. If a man is confronted by a Succubus, unless they have a very strong mind, they would instantly be under her spell. Though their main way to snare a target is with their eyes at first contact. This technique is a hynpotic power called 'Allure', found by most of the Succubi race to use. It puts the victim in a half-dead state, leaving the victim in control of the succubus."

"So Justin wasn't being mean," Elsa smirked at this, nudging a relieved Courtney, "He's just under mind control."

"Yeah, don't celebrate just yet," Oogie stated as he hopped on to Courtney's knees, pointing at the book, "Read the rest."

It was then that Courtney looked at one of the last entries on the Succubus pages, and then paled as she read it, "Once the victim and the succubus are in an isolated area, the succubus will give the victim the Succubus' Kiss, rendering the victim to be subservient. The Slave will be under their complete control.. forever. Or until the victim/slave is sucked dry," then Courtney paled at that as her eyes went wide with horror, "No… she… she cant. I wont let her do this."

"Tehn we'd better start finding them both," Oogie shouted as he got off of Courtney's knees as the two got up, "Before that dope becomes the Succubi soup de jure!"

* * *

**Next Chapter: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up pt.3**


	12. Sucs U B Us pt3

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Sucs U. B. Us; Gearing Up pt.3**

* * *

**Night**

**Amityville Museum**

* * *

The museum had closed for the night, and the guards had gone to the break room. Everything was quiet and dark, except for two teens sneaking in; Lilith was leading the way, and Justin was the one being dragged from behind, still in his half-dazed state. She had convinced him to sneak into the museum, right after she had heard about the supernatural wing and wanted to see it for herself. They had wandered in to the Supernatural Wing of the museum, looking around. It was only when they were at where the Kinsmir-Blade and the other jeweled artifacts were displayed, did Lilith finally stop. She was on the verge of happiness, seeing Courtney's face so heartbroken.

She was so happy that suddenly, popping out from her skirt was an elongated purple tail that resembled something the X-Men Nightcrawler would have. She smirked in bliss, tears of joy nearly coming out as her tail wagged like a dogs' as she squealed, "Alright, I made that girl cry! That'll show that hussy, Priscilla Wright, who's top dog around the school!" she clenched her fists and brought them up to her chest, "Now the Amityville Harem plan is a shoe in!"

It was just then, when Justin finally regained control of himself and saw Lilith, he groaned a little, "Ugh. Wha… what happened?" As he shook his head a little, he remembered what he had said back at the school, and paled, "I can't believe I said that stuff to her," he then looked resolved to himself as he thought, 'No matter what or how I thought about it, I said too much.'

Lilith smirked went on, only until she saw Justin looking serious, "Justin? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Lilith," giving her an apologetic look as he turned around to leave, "But I have to go and apologize to Courtney," and was on his way to leave the exhibit and building, unaware that it was nighttime.

Lilith paled at that, retracted her tail, and ran up to him, "Wait!" and stopped him in his tracks as she embraced him tightly. This little scene caused Justin to blush a little, still awkward on having a girl press up to him like that… ever. Lilith, gaining the upper hand at this game of cat-and-mouse, smiled warmly as she nuzzled her head on his chest, "You must be feeling rather depressed, Justin darling," Justin was slowly being pushed towards the glass casing to where the Kinsmir-Blade was being displayed at, "Don't worry… because I'll comfort you."

She then broke the hug a little, as they were close to the glass casing. Close enough for Justin to lean on it, as Lilith cupped his face, causing him to blush even more, "Uh, Lilith? What are you doing?"

"Shhhh, don't move, Justin," Lilith said, with a small blush flaring on her cheeks, "I'm… really nervous about this too," she then flared up her Allure eye at him, causing him to go into another hypnotic trance as she got on her tip toes, "You'll be the first boy I've ever tried this ability on," and then leaned in towards his face as she seductively whispered, "And… a girl… never forgets her first. So please… don't run."

'It's no good,' Justin thought, trying to resist the urge to kiss her, but to no avail, 'I can't move,' she leaned in, getting closer to touching and tasting his lips. However, as this nearly happened, the Kinsmir-Blade's jeweled topaz eye, suddenly glinted, and glowing frequently. And then, much to Justin's surprise, a voice shouted in his head, screaming, '**WAKE UP, YOU FOOL!**'

Then suddenly, Justin snapped out of it and nearly scared Lilith as he broke her hold. And then suddenly, he clutched to her tightly, in an embracing hold; with his arms around her, and her hands on his shoulders. Lilith gasped at this sudden burst of strength and surprising move. She giggled nervously for a moment, as she smirked, "Hey! Not like that… not so tightly!" but she smirked, thinking it to be her powers working on him, "I'm a girl; be gentle with me, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Justin said, earning a surprised and shocked look on Lilith's face as he looked solemn on this. He then looked down, resting his head to hers as he started out, "I can't do this. I just can't, not when I hurt Courtney like that."

Lilith, after hearing him regain control again, looked distressed seeing her plan fall apart, 'H-H-How can he have broken the spell? One more 'Allure' should do it,' and tried to push him off his grip, desperate to gain him back in her control. However, she couldn't push him away as she tried not to hurt him, 'Wha…? How… how can he be this strong?'

"I said such horrible things to her," Justin stated, feeling guilty as he finished, "How can I be much of a friend to her, if I'm not with her or by her side when she needs it?" He then sighed sadly, "I'm a terrible friend."

Lilith's eyes went wide as saucers with shock at this, 'No way! I hit him with a full Allure, and hit him with the full press…' She then lowered her head in shame… and anger as she whispered, "Is that girl really so great to you?" Justin looked confused as she slowly started to shake with anger, "Do you want her so much? So much more than me?"

And then finally, her anger went overboard as she powerfully pushed him straight towards the glass case, smashing it and causing the Kinsmir-Blade bracelet to fall on the ground next to Justin's right wrist. Justin landed on the ground, stunned and hurt from the broken glass, as he groaned, not noticing the bracelet snaking its way to him, and around his wrist. It then wrapped itself around his wrist, snuggling into position, and the gem glowing a little brighter, going completely unnoticed by Justin at all at this point.

He groaned as he pulled a piece of glass from his arm, and looked to Lilith, "Wha... what's…?"

But then he paled as he saw Lilith hunch over, hugging herself in pain as she growled out, "I did all those things to get you in control! I even humiliated myself by acting so weak around you just to get you!" she then looked at Justin straight in the eye, and Justin could tell she was pretty PO'ed, "ENOUGH! I'm really angry now! I'M REALLY MAD NOW!"

And then suddenly, the back of her shirt blasted open, as two purplish spike folds shot out. They were positioned at the point to where her mid-lower back was, and then the spike folds opened up, revealing them to be purple bat wings that stretched out to be twelve feet in length each as they stretched out. She arched her back up as her prehensile devil's tail whipped out, and then out of her skull, popping up like cat ears, two small batwing-like ears popped out. Lilith then jumped off the ground, and her wings flapped alive keeping her afloat in the air.

She looked at Justin, who was yelling in his head 'What the Heck' all the time. She then flexed her fingers as the nails grew only a little longer into short sharp nail points and shouted out, "Well, if I can't have you…" and then she charged right at him at full speed, with her nails right forward, "… THEN I'LL MAKE SURE SHE CAN'T HAVE YOU AT ALL!"

"Get away from him!"

Then suddenly, a bolt of lightning like speedy object shot towards Lilith, and punched her straight into the face. The speed-forced impact sent Lilith flying towards the other wall, crashing into some of the exhibits, trashing them. The object screeched to a halt in front of Justin, revealing it to be Elsa with her metallic battle mode switched on. Elsa huffed in relief as she sighed, "Well… I'm glad we got here in time."

"Elsa," Justin sighed in relief as well, "I'm glad you're here," but then suddenly, he was glomped on by a frantic Courtney, who with Oogie, ran to catch up to Elsa, who heard Lilith screaming in anger. Surprised by being hugged by Courtney, he asked, "Um, Courtney?"

Breaking the hug, Courtney looked to Justin as she shook her head, "Before anything else, you don't have to apologize. I knew it was Lilith's Allure move that made you say that stuff," getting a clueless look in Justin's face, Courtney spilled the beans, "She's a succubus, a Dream-eating Demon, who preys on boys."

Having a clueless look on his face, Justin blinked until it finally sinked in as he nodded, "Oh," but then he became relieved as he smiled to her, "So, then all that stuff I said to you… it wasn't really me."

"Yeah, I know," Courtney said to him, smiling at him… which to her was both sort of stranger, and comforting at the same time right now.

Suddenly, the rubble finally shot upward, creating a small dust cloud, as Lilith shot forward. "That hurt, you skunk-headed Cyborg!" and rushed after her in the air, as she past Elsa. But then, her tail wrapped around Elsa's neck, taking her along for the ride as the two teens watched in horror. Then, with a spin in the air, she threw Elsa straight into the second floor, straight through the ceiling of the exhibit.

Justin gulped at the power that the succubus, Lilith, had in her. He looked to Courtney as he advised, "Um, Courtney? Now's a good time to start Flaming On."

"I think you're right," Courtney stated as she broke away from Justin, and held out her right hand as she was about to summon her Elemental firepower. But then she went bug-eyed, and blushed form embarrassment, as she turned to Justin and smiled embarrassed, "Oh, I forgot… I need an element gem charm to fully control my element."

"Your what?" Justin asked, slightly freaked out now.

"Well…" Courtney admitted, poking her two index fingers together, in an embarrassed way, "You know that bracelet with the yellow gem that Stranger has?" Justin nodded as she finally answered, "It's a conductor that allows him to use his power fully. Basically, with it he can do the little and the big stuff with his power. And I need one as well before I can do all the stuff that Stranger can do."

"We are so doomed," was all that Oogie said until they heard Lilith screaming out loud.

"ARGH!" Lilith screamed out loud as she looked at the two teens and boogey monster from down below her, "All my rage - wasted on nothing!" she snarled as she dived right for them, "Weaklings! But that's fine, I'll just kill you both together, and then finish off that patched-up corpse of a bodyguard you've got!" and then she cackled like an angry girl would when the pressure breaks the valve.

Justin nearly paled as he saw the speedy-flying succubus head straight towards him with her claws. "Look out, Justin!" Courtney shouted as she ran into him, pushing them both out of the way. Lilith zoomed over them as she sped off to the other side of the room, and turned around to survey her targets… with a little blood on her right clawed fingernails.

"Ugh, Courtney… you alright?" Justin groaned as he got up, with Courtney still on top of him. It was then that he heard a small whimpering groan escape from Courtney as he saw her get up off of him, wincing from some pain. It was then that he drew his hand back, and saw blood on it. He paled at this as he saw Courtney's back; the back of her shirt sliced up and five claw marks on it, bleeding. He paled as he got on his knees and looked at her with much concern, "Courtney! Oh go… we've gotta patch those up!"

"Justin…" Courtney asked, hiding her pain with a smile, "She didn't hurt you, did she?"

He shook his head as he was nearly on the verge of tears for her, "No, she didn't. But she…"

"That's good… ugh!" she winced a little, as Justin placed his hands on her small shoulders as she started, "Last time, you really took a number in saving me," she then smiled a little at him as she stated, "Seeing that we're friends, I should take one for the team as well."

"Courtney…" Justin said, a little touched from what she said. At this point, he wished there was something he could do until Elsa got back in the game. He knew that Courtney was a Wiccan, and that Elsa was a Gestalt Warrior, but what he was he? A normal human with an abnormal intellect when it came to machines, 'This sucks' he thought as he nearly grit his teeth, 'I just wish I could help more…'

'**DO YOU WANT POWER?**'

'Huh?' Justin thought as he heard that voice again, the same one that woke him up from his trance. Unbeknownst to him, the bracelet, that he was still unaware of, began to slightly move, almost as if it were an organic living creature.

'**DO YOU WANT POWER? POWER SO AMAZING… THAT YOU COULD DEFEAT YOUR ENEMIES… AND SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS FRIENDS?**'

"Courtney Keller!" Lilith shouted as he swoop-dived right at the two, "The rumors of you being a flame-wielding Wiccan was just all talk, eh?" as she swooped at them both, her wings suddenly sharpened and transformed into wing-like axes attached to her back, "It's just as well. You two can die as well; die in each other's arms! And then your Gestalt friend… and your Boogey Monster!"

"Why am I involved?" Oogie asked, huddling between the two teens whimpering, "I'm just the cute and fluffy mascot/sidekick!"

"NO!" Courtney shouted, and then brought Justin close to her as she held him, squeezing Oogie between the two as she tearfully shouted, "Spare my friends, and kill me instead!" she then looked defiantly at Lilith as she shouted, "I'm the one you want!"

After hearing that, Lilith sneered at that self-sacrifice moment, "You're still trying to protect your shield, are you?"

"You're wrong!" Courtney shouted, getting Lilith's, Justin's, and now Elsa's as she rejoined the scene, landing back on the ground floor. Lilith stopped in mid-air, her axe wings still in their transformed state as she listened to what Courtney was gonna say out loud, wincing from her still-bleeding back, "Justin isn't a shield; he's been there for me, helping me! He's my first friend and that's something precious to somebody like me!" her hug on Justin tightened, fearing that she might lose him as she continued, "He protected me; now I want to protect him and my other friends that I've made! I don't want to lose them, especially Justin!"

'Courtney…' Justin thought as he looked at her with a smile.

"Your friend?" Lilith spat out, her anger returning to her as she charged right back at the two, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Elsa paled at this as she ran towards them, but it wasn't close enough to get to them in time. "Guys exist to become food and slaves to us Succubi! They're meant to submit to you!"

As she got near for the killing blow, Justin knew that they were gonna get sliced up like butter. He then saw the bracelet on his wrist, and remembered what Prof. Birch had told him about it. It was a symbiotic weapon; having a consciousness of its own. Pushing back the consequences on what it could do to him, kill him or rob him of his humanity, he pushed it aside and looked at Courtney, and then screamed in his head loud enough, 'For her… YES! I'LL TAKE THAT POWER!'

Then the bracelet's gem shined like the sun, nearly blinding everyone in the room as the bracelet came to life, "For her, I'll become a shield… and a sword!"

Justin shouted as the bracelet's silver metal stretched out like a gooey liquid on parts of his body, nearly digging into his flesh. On his shirt, the metal tore at the shirt, ripping it off and forming a kind of chest armor on him, and then on his left arm, shoulders, back, forelegs, knees, and shoes, as it all originated from his right hand. The gooey silver stuff started to harden and take shape, sharpening into deadly points. His hair started to change color as Justin roared out; a mixture of what sounded like a wolf and… something else.

Lilith stopped in her flight, Elsa stopped running, and Courtney looked at him in amazement at Justin as he knelt next to her. Justin's shirt was gone, showing his chest; being physically fit for a guy who looked like he could get creamed by Josh and his whole football squad. However, he was also sporting on a half-set of body armor of demonic design that was colored Sterling Silver, but appeared to be metallic plating over a scaly under armor that was colored dark steel.

On his chest was a chestplate that only covered his right side, but left his toned stomach exposed but not the right side. He had two shoulder pad guards resembling scales of sorts; on the right shoulder there were three topaz colored eye opals embedded in it. the back of it was of an under armor that was V shaped and stopped at the midback, but had two outer armor steel plates to where his shoulder blades were; and had an Omega sign on the back of a Gothic Design. On his biceps was scale plated armor, with scale under armor, all tight on him and organic-looking. On his forearms and hands were metallic and organic gauntlets with the inner part of the gauntlets and a few open ports exposing a little under armor parts. The tips of the fingers and thumbs all came out to sharpened claws, the wrists were silver bands, and at the elbows ended at two sharpened horn points. But oddly enough, only on the back of the right gauntlet, a topaz opal was placed there, glowing like it was alive. Around his waist, was an armored belt, with the buckle was shaped into a wolf-muzzle design. His knees were guarded by diamond-shaped knee guards, while his calves were guarded by a bat-shaped armor design, while the whole foreleg was encased in skin-tight under armor. The ankles were encased in tight ankle guards and the back heels and toes of the shoes were encased in armor tips, scale-designed. Around his neck, was a flexible neck guard connected to the shoulders and chest armor, and on his cheeks were two black crescent moon marks under his eyes, and his hair was silver instead of brown now. But the two things that were even more different now, were that his eyes were completely black, and his irises were golden yellow, and his canines were more elongated.

The girls looked at him, completely stunned by what had happened to him. Courtney looked up at him, as she was still on her knees, with Oogie on her lap, as she asked in a worried tone, "Justin… ?"

Elsa nearly shivered, as did Lilith and Oogie, as all three of them thought the same thing, 'That aura… it feels like an S-Class Vampire… but also an S-Class Werewolf… what is he?'

Just then, Justin, or the creature standing there, brought up his right hand, and flexed his fingers. He then looked at Lilith as he smirked, exposing his elongated canines, "I may be only a human… but you should know that humans don't go down so easy, Lilith," he then balled up his fist as he snarled with a wolf's growl, nearly shaking Courtney up, "I'll slice you off one piece at a time, so you won't ever go near Courtney _or_ the Goosebumps Book."

Lilith sneered as she shouted, "You think I want some dusty old book? Don't joke with me!" she then pointed out, "I won't lose, even if you're wearing some fancy symbiotic armor! I shoulder an important mission for my people! The race of Succubi is dying out! Therefore, each female has one great mission: to find a worthy male, capable of fathering her offspring!"

"Wha..?" Courtney asked, now seeing the big picture of Lilith's Harem plan.

"That's why I wanted to enslave the boys at Amityville Junior High. That's why I tried to enslave Justin!" and then she was starting to swell up tears as she shouted out, thinking of her people, "Because surely one of them is monster enough to be my destined other. My 'Mate of Fate' as it were!" and then suddenly, her eyes glowed as the room filled up with a mysterious fog; an illusion she created with her eyes, "But you all ruined it all! Now I'm gonna make you all pay for this!"

Courtney looked around; trying to at least see anyone in the fog, but it was thicker than pea soup. From what she read in the book, Succubi were masters in creating illusions, as she paled, 'If this one of their illusions… it's a pretty realistic one of fog!' "Elsa! Justin! Oogie! Where are you guys?" she called out to them, looking around, seeing nothing but patches of grey cloud circling around the area, as she tried desperately to find anyone.

However, right behind her, Lilith was slowly making her way out of the fog. Her wings, now back to batwings, transformed themselves into several harpoon tipped tails, similar to her tail. They were all at the ready like scorpion tails, waiting to strike at Courtney once and for all.

She smirked at her victory to be, 'This is one for my race… COURNTEY KELLER!' and then lashed them right at her at high speed.

Oogie, who had scampered into a clearing, saw the harpoon tails go straight at Courtney, "Courtney! Watch out behind ya!" he shouted frantically as his tails shot up and the hairs stood on end.

Courtney turned around sharply, and gasped as she saw the sharp tails heading right for her. Unable to summon her powers out just yet, all she could do was close her eyes, turn away, and shield herself with her arms. However, as the tails reached for her, she heard a sickening SHNIKT sound; the sound of sharp objects piercing through flesh. Courtney opened her eyes, noticing she wasn't in any pain aside from her back, and then paled at what she saw.

Elsa, whom had heard Oogie screaming out, ran over to the source of the voice and got there in time to shield her friend. However, she didn't block with her metallic arms as the tails had pierced through her flesh body. Shocked by this, Courtney saw that she was bleeding, and when Elsa turned to look at Courtney, a little blood began to trickle down her mouth.

Courtney paled as she stammered, "E-Elsa? Wh-What's going on? I thought you said you were immortal?" she pointed at her friend's wounds, "Why're you bleeding like that?"

"By immortal, I said that I can't age, and I can take a beating," Elsa coughed up a little as she struggled to talk, "But if I take injuries or beatings from near-fatal attacks like this one… well… like a car-wreck, I've gotta… be fixed… or scrapped…"

Lilith sneered as she retracted her tails, leaving Elsa to fall on her knees, bleeding slightly. Courtney ran over to her to support her friend as did Oogie. Lilith just sneered as she strode towards them; the fingernails on her right hand sharpening for a finishing blow.

However, that didn't come to pass, as suddenly, something metallic wrapped around her wrists and ankles, startling the little succubus, "Wha… what the…!" and then turned around as her illusion was broken due to her lack of concentration. She then saw what it was that had snatched her; four metallic silver tentacles with three clawed clamps at her, slowly lifting her up in the air as she struggled at her best. Attached to the tentacles to the back, was Justin in his strange Kinsmir-Blade form, with a silver visor over his eyes, having four yellow gem eyes looking right at her.

Lilith struggled to break free of her bonds, to no avail though she thought, 'How? How did he find me? Unlike those two loudmouths, I didn't make a peep,' but then she suddenly paled at the answer, 'That visor! Over his eyes! He… he saw through the illusion with it?'

The visor on Justin's face broke down the middle, and retracted back into the rest of the armor, "You'll make us pay?" Justin's anger snarled as his fangs were exposed as he hissed, "For something as selfish in finding a mate?" and then, before Lilith could shout out in protest, he let the tentacles throw her high in the air, with her screaming. The tentacles then shot back behind him, and attacked to the Omega glyph, the tentacles twisted and merged together to form metallic and organic, jagged-sharp batwings that stretched out fourteen feet, as they flapped out. Justin, with his new beastlike personality, growled out, "Sweetheart, I think you need a little lesson in humility."

Lilith balanced herself in the air as her wings let out a might flap, righting her back up. She growled as she was about to attack Justin, but saw he was no longer seen anywhere, "Where… where'd that human go?" she didn't see him, only until she yelped in surprise and pain.

Right behind her, flying on his own set of wings, was Justin, holding her succubus tail. He smirked devilishly as she whelped at her tail being pulled like that, "A little slow aren't you?" he slightly pulled at her tail, making her yelp out loud again to the point of fear and tears, "What should happen if I tore this off? Think you'd learn better with a bloody stub for a tail?"

Lilith nearly panicked at having her tail torn off as she screamed, "N-Nooo!" but then he let go of her as, with tremendous speed, he was right into her face. And then suddenly, with only his right hand, he palm-punched her in the chest. However, the immense strength and power that he now possessed, sent her flying across the museum, and straight through the glass front doors, skidding along the ground as she was knocked unconscious.

Justin then landed back on the ground again, as the wings retracted back into the armor. Courtney and Elsa just stared in awe at the stranger that was once their friend; he had beaten the Succubus, Lilith, without even breaking a sweat, and with powers that, to Elsa's experience in fighting, could only be described as both Vampire and Werewolf.

Courtney started to wonder if he was still Justin, or something similar the way the Haunted Mask had did to her. He then turned around to face them and they backed away not sure of what to make of him anymore.

He walked towards them, but Courtney shouted, "Don't come any closer!" He ignored the threat as he continued to walk towards them.

Elsa was about to get up and stop him in her own way, but her injuries got the better of her. even though she was immortal and half-machine, she could still feel pain and bleed. And right now, she was hurting more than ever at this point as she dropped back to her knees, with Courtney trying to help her.

Courtney tried to help Elsa up as Justin walked towards them; the armor still on him as he walked towards them. Seeing this, Courtney started to panic slightly as she shouted, "I said stop!"

He still didn't listen as he stopped in from of them both; he then knelt reached a hand out to the two girls. He reached out to them both, placing his hands on their shoulders. Then, thin tendrils on the armor's forearms snaked over them both, glowing yellow to the naked eye. Courtney closed her eyes thinking he was going to strangle her and Elsa.

However, that soon passed as a back thought, until he asked in a concerned tone, "Are you both alright?"

She opened her eyes as he heard the question and looked at him; he was still touching her shoulder lightly, "Who knew this thing was a First-Aid Kit in one," the two girls looked at one another, and saw that their wounds had healed back immensely as the thin tendrils slithered back into the armor. Even Elsa was amazed as she touched to where her fatal wounds would have been.

She nodded blushing at him touching her like this, "Y-Yeah, we're alright," Courtney responded, looking at him in a half-dream state, but snapped out of it as she pointed to the armor, "Justin! What is that thing?"

Justin pulled his hands back and looked at the armor on his body. For a while ago, he wasn't fully aware on what it was or how he was controlling it, or for his latter attitude change. He knew that it was the bracelet that Prof. Birch had told him about, and that's when it hit him… this was the Kinsmir-Blade's true form. However, the silver hair, eye-color, and vampire fangs were still a mystery on why that happened. So for now, all he did was help the two up as he gave the two girls and boogey monster the best answer he could give them without freaking them out, "I guess… you could call it the Kinsmir-Blade. It's sort of a… living armor, I guess."

Courtney looked at him, and felt relieved that he had returned to his old self again, and not the dark version that he was. She smiled in relief, and being a little amazed by this, as she touched the shoulder armor lightly, smirking, "I've got to admit… for living armor, it's kind of cool."

The two were snapped out of their little moment as Oogie pointed out, "Um, excuse me… guys," the three teens looked at Oogie as he stated, "I hate to ruin this touching moment of rekindled friendships and bizarre living armor that can kick darkstalker butt, but there's still the succubus matter to look into!"

The teens remembered that, and that's when Justin's dark self sprang back as he growled, "I'll fix this," and then in a burst of speed, took off leaving a little breeze that blew at the girls a bit.

The two girls looked at each other, fearing that in worry of what Justin's dark side would do to Lilith. They immediately got up, ignoring the fatigue that followed, and ran after him as fast as they could. Oogie followed right behind them shouting, "I'm right behind you, girls!" he then stopped for a moment, panting to catch his breath, "Hugh! I'm way behind you," he then sprinted back after them, complaining, "Hoowah! I got a fur wedgie here!"

* * *

**Outside**

* * *

Lilith, who was knocked out for only a few minutes, woke up, feeling sorer than ever. She flapped her wings, making sure that they were working still, and used her arms to lift herself up as she knelt upward. Though she fell back on her hands, leaning a bit, gasping for air as a sharp pain hit her chest. She remembered how Justin suddenly transformed like that, and with immense speed and strength, knocked her out with one blow.

She mentally cursed herself, 'Dammit! Dammit, why am I so weak? And to be beaten by a human nonetheless?' she groaned innerly, trying to figure out what was going on; Justin was just an ordinary human, yet he now possessed the power and strength of a vampire, and the speed of a lycan, "How's… how's this even possible? No creature should possess the power of both those warring species."

"No creature you'd know of," came a growling voice that would send a chill down anyone's spine, "But if there were, creatures like you would have gone extinct long ago. So I doubt you'd be able to help your people repopulate."

Lilith paled and went bug-eyed as she slowly looked up in front of her, to see Justin in the Kinsmir-Blade armor, flexing his clawed gauntlets' fingers, "Personally, to the boy you're quite a sight for sore eyes…" and then shot out his hand to the side, as oozing metal stretched out and took shape in the form of an axe… shaped like a wrench. And then he held it high up, "But to me… you're just an unpleasant eyesore. I'll do you a favor and chop off those wings and tail, so that you won't fly ever again."

Lilith was shaking at this point, tears started to form in her eyes as she whimpered, "N… no, not that. Please forgive me…"

"Justin, stop!" Courtney shouted as she ran over and stood in front of Lilith, shielding her. In truth, she probably wanted to keep pounding Lilith down for all that she did, but this was too cruel. That, and Justin wasn't acting like his usual self for some odd reason, 'I'm not sure what it is… but I know this isn't what Justin would do.'

Justin sneered in annoyance as he snarled, "Get… outta the way," he then pointed to Lilith, making her flinch, as he stated, "Not only did she trick your friend, but she tried to kill him, you, and the others."

"I know that," Courtney replied, still standing in between the two, as Elsa and Oogie got to them, "But I also know now that Lilith's intentions weren't malicious in any way," this caused Lilith to look up to them both in surprise as she saw the girl she was trying to kill a while ago suddenly defend her.

"Oh yeah?" Justin asked as he pointed to the succubus, "And how do you know that?"

"Because you know that too," Courtney answered with a genuine smile to him, causing him to look confused, "Because when I look at you, and at her, I just know… that you both aren't in the least bit, bad people at all." Courtney then slowly but cautiously walked towards Justin and placed her hand on his right, the source of the Kinsmir armor, and looked to him, "Right now you just look bad…. So please… don't become like that, Justin. I know we can all get along as friends now."

Lilith just looked at the two for a moment, slightly stunned that she was being protected by a human nonetheless. What Courtney said about being friends, her protecting her, was just too much for her heart to take. Finally, in a mixture of sadness and happiness, Lilith started to cry at that moment, wiping away at her tears.

Justin froze there for a moment looking at Lilith crying and then at Courtney, slightly remembering that, despite the armor's change to his attitude and personality. Finally, he closed his eyes and let out a small smile, as his armor retracted the axe back in. He then looked at Courtney as he responded, "Don't be so serious," and then brought his right hand up, still holding on to hers, "Courtney Keller, you misunderstood. I just didn't want my user to have to suffer another loss in his life, by losing you."

"User?" Courtney asked slightly worried, "Who… what are you?"

Justin, or rather the Kinsmir-Blade, just smirked as he answered, "A long time ago to two warring creatures, I'm referred to as the Balance," and then in a gentlemanly manner, he brought her hand up and kissed it, earning a blush from Courtney at this gesture, especially coming form someone she considered a friend. Then 'Justin' finally finished, "But I'm considered now as this boy's shield and sword, as I am also yours," he then smirked, "But don't worry, I have every intention of letting Justin take control. After all, he is my user; that's how the contract works with the two of us."

And then suddenly, the armor retracted in a flash, back into a watch bracelet on his right wrist. And then Justin's hair and eye color returned to normal once again, as he was left there, shirtless, and half-dazed. He nearly fell over, until Elsa ran up and helped Courtney catch him and support him up. Elsa looked to Justin, half-worried and half-amazed by what she had heard.

Courtney on the other hand, looked at Justin with confusion, 'Balance? Justin… what's happened?'

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

**Library Wing**

* * *

"The Kinsmir-Blade?" both Justin, and now appeared Alex asked in unison as they both had a look of confusion. After the events of yesterday, everyone was seated down to hear what had happened after Lilith had disappeared. They wanted to go look for her, but it was a little late and everyone was near exhaustion.

Elsa nodded, "that's right," she had decided to tell them the best she could, considering she and Stranger had heard rumors of it during their travel, "It's said to be a weapon, that act as a balance between the two races whose blood created that gem on it; Vampires and Lycans. The rumors say that only human males can wield such a weapon. Those who do are said to have control of its trillion usage armor, but also gifted the strengths of both races… but… if using the Kinsmir-Blade for too long a length of time, could attain their ultimate weakness: The Thirst and Hunger."

They all took that one in, as Alex looked to Justin and smirked, "Oh great. Looks like you get strength, speed, a new look… and as an added bonus," and then raised his hands to the roof hooting, "the Ultimate Sexual Allure."

Justin groaned as he shook his head, still looking at the bracelet watch that was now on his wrist for who knew how long. He sighed, "Yeah, that… and a bracelet with a mind of its own." He then looked to Courtney, who seemed kind of quiet at this point, and asked, "Say, uh… Courtney?"

"Huh? Yeah?" she asked, snapping out of her daydream for the moment.

"Well, if… if I do become a little more like that guy from last night," he scratched the back of his neck nervously as he asked, "Will… will we still be friends?"

after hearing that question, and in fearing the wrong answer as well as forgetting the debonair way he acted last night, she jumped right at him, slightly blushing as she answered, "Of course, Justin! To me, you'll always be my first precious friend, no matter which one you are!" and then she mumbled out, looking away, "Though 'he' did say you'd be in control from now on," but then she smiled back to him, "That's why… I don't mind now that we're all friends."

Just then, before any more mushy stuff happened, Stranger came in, in his usual deadpan way, "Pardon me for interrupting," he then walked over to the table, holding a black jewel box, "But I thought I would give this to you right away, Courtney," he then slid it over to her side as she caught it, "Considering yesterday, of course."

Courtney looked puzzled as she opened the box, and was slightly stunned at what she was looking at. In the case, was a small silver ring, stylized as a dragon, with a small red ruby embedded into a dragon mouth-shaped holder on the ring. Also with it, was a silver thin chained necklace with a ruby pearl in the talons of a silver phoenix pendant. Courtney smiled as she took the necklace as she put it on, and placed the ring on her right ring finger, "My gem charms. You got them for me?"

"Just a little stop at the Troll market as was getting some supplies for Elsa's preparation," Stranger answered truthfully.

"Preparation?" Elsa asked confused.

"As of tomorrow, I want you attending the high school," Stranger said, hiding a small smile as he turned away heading for the door. He didn't have to see it, but Elsa was smiling broadly and on the verge of squealing in joy. He then stopped as he finished, "Also, you all have a friend that's dropped by."

The kids looked confused as they saw Stranger step out of the room. And then someone made their way in, with a basket of sorts and a smile on their faces. It was none other than Lilith, in her human state, as she ran over to the table, excited, "Hi everyone!"

"L-Lilith?" everyone shouted in question and shock at the return of the teen succubus. Courtney sat up as she asked, "Wh-what are you doing here?"

Lilith shrugged as she stuck out her tongue playfully, "Well, like you said last night, right? We're friends. And friends usually hang out with each other."

She smirked innocently, but then she stopped as she looked at Justin, and then blushed a little as she smiled cheerfully, "Hello, Justin," and then walked over to him as she presented him with the basket, "I baked some cookies for you," and then pulled up upward, causing Courtney to shoot up as well, along with the others as she snuggled on his arm, "If you want, we could eat them together."

Justin, who sweatdropped at this, nervously asked, "Um, that's great, but uh… why just me?"

Lilith blushed a little as she closed her eyes, looked away, and playfully smiled, "Oh come on, you tease. Didn't I mention that I needed to find my 'Mate of Fate'?" she then looked at Justin as she answered, "Well, I discovered last night… it was you!"

Everyone was quiet for a minute, even Justin and Courtney were, until they finally shouted out, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAA?"

Lilith nodded as she rubbed her cheek on Justin's arm as she confessed, "Last night I needed to find someone monster enough to be my mate. When I saw you like that last night, Justin, I knew it was you," she then squealed as she nearly screamed out, "That gentle nature, those good looks, that human scent… and all that animal aggression in one handsome package! I'm in love with you!"

Courtney growled at that and took Justin's free arm as she pulled him away, "You've barely known him for a few days! You can't just fall in love with him on the spot!"

"Yes I can!" Lilith shot out as she pulled him back, and then got a sly smile on her face, "Unless… _you've_ fallen for him. Have you?"

Courtney blushed at this, nearly breaking into a cold sweat. She shook her head as she pulled Justin away from her, "NO! No I haven't; just stop looking at him like he was a slab of meat!"

And then went on a furious tug-of-war with Justin as the rope. They kept pulling at him so comically, just as Alex sweatdropped, "Sure glad that's not me."

Oogie just shrugged at that as he hopped on over to the cookies that Lilith had baked, "Oh well, sucks to be him," and then started to eat some of the cookies without the love triangle from noticing.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed**

* * *

**But first, a well-made up Bonus for all you reviewers and readers out there… PROFILES!**

* * *

**Name:** Courtney McRaven Keller

**Age:** 15

**Height**: 5'0"

**Hair**: Black (sometimes with purple streaks in them)

**Eye**: Lavender

**Likes:** Horror novels and movies, Edgar A. Poe's work, her family; especially her little brother, Max. Her friends, Japanese food, vegetarian pizza.

**Dislikes:** Preppy things, pink dresses, losing those she cares about

**Family:** Derek Keller (father; deceased); Karen Keller (Mother); Max Keller (little brother)

**Background**: Being born and descended from a long line of Wiccans since the Salem Witch Trials, and losing her father at a young age, Courtney had a lonely and difficult life. She adored her father so much, that when she lost him, was when she retreated into horror stories and movies, as well as dressing in black, continually mourning for her father. Such as caused her an isolated childhood, preventing her from ever making any friends, avoiding them as best she could. Even when she moved into the Halloween loving town of Amityville.

However, that all soon changes as she reads the Book of Goosebumps, a field guild and prison to the Realm of Shadows, the Monster World. When read, she unleashed the worst monsters, apparitions, and cursed or possessed creatures and things that would only be found in the deepest darkest nightmares. Seeing as how she read it, which requires a virgin Wiccan to release the creatures, her boss, Mr. Stranger, has tasked her to retrieve the monsters once again.

Being trained in her Wiccan ability, Fire, she as well as those present when she read the book, must recapture the monsters. They must before the monster witch, Revolta, retrieves as many of them as she can, so she can rule both the worlds of Light and Darkness. Along the way she will make enemies, but most importantly, she will gain friends, both human and monster… and perhaps… something else.

**Personality:** Courtney comes across to other people as a lone she-wolf, or black cat much to her conviction and defensive nature at first. She does her best to isolate herself from other people, including from her own mother, fearing that if she grew attached and lost them just as she lost her father, she would become even more saddened. Though after she meets Justin, Elsa, and eve Alex and Oogie, even following after the events of the Haunted Mask, she begins to open up to friendship once again. Despite desiring to be alone with no friends in her life, she does enjoy the companionship she has with her new friends. She seems to even value her friends above herself even to extend of self-sacrifice.

Elsa, Oogie, and Justin are most arguably her closest friends. With Elsa being the naïve new girl acting as a protective sister. Oogie being the goofy conscience and lifeline-like creature to protect her when her powers fail her. And Justin as her knight, or protective male friend (and later on crush and boyfriend). Stranger is something of a mentor to her, as well as a grandfather, rather than a boss. Lilith's liveliness and possessive attitude towards Justin, Alex's endless amount of corny jokes, as well as Leon's hitting on her sometimes drives her insane, but she does consider the other three very close friends. She respects and cares for all of them greatly

She had always distanced herself from others for their protection, although she does seem to enjoy a friendly relation with Justin and Oogie. Due to her friendships, she becomes more outgoing and friendly, though her temper becomes a problematic factor, even when it's connected to her Wiccan Elemental powers.

**Powers**: Courtney is descended from a bloodline of Wiccans, Elemental Witches. As such, she's in command of the Element, Fire. At first, Courtney can only do the little stuff, produce and control small flames, creating sort of mini-bombs and explosions. However, she is still weary about doing the larger stuff, such as setting creatures on fire or producing large fires that could burn down a building or forest. She can shoot flame blasts from her hands, create flame shields, and through her own power, can summon creatures of flames to do her bidding; flame birds, snakes, even create bats writhed in flames. And in the range of small stuff, she can use her Element to heal others.

However, she is not without her weaknesses. First is her biggest fear of all, being alone with no one in the world. Her second weakness is water, considering that her element is fire. Being drenched in it or in an environment in water, such as being in a water tank, can hinder her ability to utilize any sort of flame at all.

**Concept:** Courtney was inspired by Asuka Langley due to her tough-as-nails attitude, as well as her fiery attitude, as well as physically-wise. Also in her character, she was inspired by Raven of Teen Titans, due to her gothic nature.


	13. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt1

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 12: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed**

* * *

**Fever Swamp**

* * *

Amityville's local swamp of legend, Fever Swamp, was a fearful place to be at. There was always a slight mist among the ground, but not enough for it to block the foliage on the ground from plain sight. The mangrove trees were all large and demonic like at first glance growing together, giving the forest a sort of ominous feel about it. The trees were big and thick, able to hide three or four humans if they stood behind them, and stretched far into the sky, with little or few leaves, as well as a few vines and tree web moss here and there. And the swamp water was thick, oozing, and bubbly like a tar pit and probably living things got stuck in them if they ever wandered into it. It was one of the places that wasn't noticeable form the rest of Amityville. For years, stories had been filling up within it, detailing the existence of a creature that roamed the Fever Swamp… during a full moon… like tonight.

However, those warnings went unheard as tonight; a forest rave was going on. Teens from Amityville High were partying down, while on a makeshift stage, a grunge band was playing a song in front of them. And it seemed appropriate, as they rock'n'rolled out loud, as their lead singer howled up to a full moon tonight,

_Who's that I see walking in these woods?_

_Why it's Lil' Red Riding Hood, that's who!_

_Hey there, Lil' Red Riding Hood,_

_You sure are lookin' good!_

_You're everything, that a big bad wolf would want!_

"Listen to me, HOOWWWWWWWWWW!"

_Lil' Red Riding Hood,_

_I don't think even big girls should,_

_Go walkin' in these spooky woods alone!_

The crowd howled in unison and cheer as the band played onward. However, deep within the woods far away from the rave and rock n' roll concert, something else was going on. Two teenagers, one preppy yet skimpy-dressed brunette, was leaning next to a crooked old tree, with her boots off, making out with one of the jocks from Amityville High. His jersey jacked was on the ground, as was the girl's boots as the two were smacking lips and moaning out, with nothing disturbing them.

The girl moaned a little in delight as the jock was kissing at her neck, "Ah! Careful, Johnny. That's my sweet spot."

"Oh, really?" Johnny smirked, as he crept his hand up behind the girl's back, under her shirt, "Because last time I checked, this was your sweet spot."

The girl yelped in surprised and giggled at that as she pulled him in close, "Come here, you big bad wolf you," and then locked lips yet again once more. However, if the two had taken notice upward at the clouds, the dark clouds pushed over with the eerie wind and the hooting owls only made the scene even more creepy if they just noticed what was being revealed up in the dark night sky… a full moon.

The two continued to make out as the girl pulled off Johnny's shirt and ran her hands all around his tight-muscled chest. The boy was close to pulling off the girl's shirt, until she heard a snapping sound coming from the forest. She struggled a little, slightly scared on what that sound was, "Johnny, stop. Johnny!" he stopped as he sighed out of annoyance as the freaked out girl looked into the blackened forest, "Did you hear that? I thought there was something out there."

"Just the wind, Chelsea," Johnny groaned as he attempted to go back into making out mode once more, "C'mon, let's get back to…"

"Wait!", Chelsea pleaded as she heard a sort of growling breathing from somewhere nearby, "I thought I heard something. It sounded… it sounded like an animal."

"Yeah," Johnny smirked, "And right now he's hungry…" and then lunged at her, nuzzling her neck with his lips playfully.

Chelsea fought back as she was getting more freaked out and frustrated, "Johnny, I'm serious here… Johnny!" and finally pushed him away for a moment, holding herself in order to shield his advances.

"What is your problem, babe?" Johnny asked, getting slightly annoyed. At that moment, before any of them noticed or even saw it, a large furry figure jumped up into the highest branch above the tree they were at. And then slowly made its way towards them, going down one branch to the other, similar to like how a monkey or a squirrel would do in such a fashion. Its original aim was for the boy as it slowly and quietly made its descent over him, but the smell of pheromones coming from the girl, made her favored for later.

"Take a look around, Chelsea," Johnny stated as he backed away for a few seconds, and pointed all around them, "Do you see anybody else, other than those guys out in the rave?"

"Johnny, seriously," Chelsea pleaded her boyfriend to listen, "I heard something. It sounded like a… like a wolf."

"A wolf?" Johnny asked scoffing the notion, "There hasn't been any wolves here in…" but his sentence was cut off, as a black and white furred huge hand grabbed his shoulder, sinking its dark claws into his shoulder, causing it to bleed. He yelled out in pain as Chelsea screamed out in panic as he was lifted high in the air, disappearing from sight.

"JOHNNY!" Chelsea screamed out in panic, looking up at the trees, "JOHNNY!" But still no answer as she couldn't see him up there. And then her fears only intensified as a small drop of rain hit her face, followed by a few more that followed after. Confused, she reached up and wiped them off, only to see what it was that showered her face. She stood there in shock, seeing that the rain was not water… but blood.

She looked up to see the origin of the blood, only to see an object falling towards her. She jumped out of the way as she saw in terror her boyfriend… half of him torn apart as was one of his arms missing, dead and bleeding. The shock of seeing her boyfriend dead and disemboweled like that caused her to scream out in bloody murder. But then her screaming stopped as a giant eight foot furry beast pounced right at her, halting her scream completely, with only the sounds of flesh being ripped apart, and the squirting sounds of blood spewing all over the area, with huge chomps being made.

* * *

_It was a slightly dark setting in a castle-like ballroom. The place seemed gothic in its design, and the windows were stain-glass in a church design as well. The only sources of light was a full moon that reflected off of a beautifully yet scary crafted chandelier that hung from the roof of the massive ballroom. And on both sides of the room, two statues stood straight up in position; one was a sort of a fellow reminiscent of a vampire, and the other, was obviously a werewolf._

_Courtney didn't know where she was or why she was here, as she stood in the center of the room. She looked around slightly confused, but not as confused as she realized what she was wearing. She was wearing a sleeveless black dress that showed off a little cleavage and had a purple lace going down from the chest to the bellybutton, a purple skirt that covered her feet, and a pair of fingerless black gloves that stopped at the elbow and went up to the shoulder, but were net black. She also had her bat choker and her gem charms still on, but to her this scene didn't make sense._

"_Okay," she thought out loud as she looked around, "If this is the set for Beauty and the Beast, why am I in this? What am I, a stand in?"_

_But just as she turned around slightly, she saw a figure standing at the window. She couldn't get a good look at him considering he was shadowed by the moonlight, but she could definitely tell the guy was male and wearing body armor from the look of it. He started to walk towards her, much to her fright on this, but she couldn't move an inch much to her confusion, but saw he was a boy around her age due to his height and physical features._

_The boy stopped only a few inches from her, nearly startling her by this. And then he brought up one of his hands up to her face as he cupped her cheek, slightly startling her. yet it was odd, even though this person's hands were in metallic gauntlets that had sharp fingertips, he was gentle with her as he cupped her face, and being careful not to cut her with them. And it was then that she saw it was the right hand, wearing the Kinsmir-Blade as it was activated. She realized who it was as he leaned into the light, and revealed himself to her, "Justin?"_

_But before that could be answered, he closed the gap between them quickly, as he planted a kiss on her lips. Courtney was surprised beyond end by this as her eyes went big with shock. But then she forgot all about that as she relaxed and just went with it as she placed her hands on his shoulders, and just enjoyed the moment._

_However, that moment was short lived as Justin pulled away from the kiss. Courtney, being a little too relaxed from the kiss, blushed and moaned as she still had her eyes closed from the kiss. And then without her noticing, his hair turned silver as his eyes went black and yellow… and he grinned exposing vampiric teeth as he lunged at her neck…._

* * *

"NO!", Courtney screamed as she bolted from her sleep, and held her chest while sweat was padding her skin. She breathed heavily in deep pants before she breathed a heavy sigh and began to relax a little, "Whoo! It was only a dream," she sighed in relief.

However, she looked down on her bed for a moment, remembering the dream that she just had. And blushed a little, both from the kiss _and_ the near-death hickie. She then crashed back on her bed, covering herself with her blanket and laughing like crazy. This in turn woke Oogie up as he groaned out, looking pretty groggy, "What the heck is goin' on here?" he then scurried out from under the bed, then pulling on the blanket, climbed up as he spotted Courtney laughing, "What happened? Did you have a goofy nightmare or something?"

"Oh, Oogie," Courtney stopped laughing as she wiped away the tears she had of laughing a little too hard, and looked to Oogie, "Sorry about that. I think I just had one of those dreams girls have," Oogie had a clueless look on his face as she answered, "You know, those dreams all teens have in their lives as soon as they've reached the hormonal stage, and you're thinking about either boys or girls?"

"Let me guess," Oogie asked as he sat on the bed in Courtney's lap, "You were thinking about girls?"

Courtney just playfully rubbed Oogie on the head, "Oh yeah right."

She then looked out at her window, and her smile disappeared as she saw what was out there. She picked up Oogie had held her like a stuffed animal, with him latching on to her as she walked towards her window. she stopped as she pulled back her black curtains and saw the night sky; the moon was starting its full moon cycle and the light dimly lit her room with its lunar glow.

But the full moon wasn't what was bugging her, it was the dream she recently had. She knew the guy in the dream was Justin, and she also knew that the silver-haired Justin was his 'other self'. She blushed at thinking that he looked pretty cute with that kind of look. But then she went bug-eyed as she shook her head, 'Sheesh, girl. What the matter with you? He's your friend… not a boyfriend,' but then she looked up at the moon and remembered the kiss in her dream. She got a little flustered at that memory as she shrugged, "Ah, it was just a dream."

Oogie looked up at her in confusion as he asked, "What was?"

Courtney shrugged as she put him down back on the floor gently, "Ah, just some Romeo/Juliet kind of business," she then walked over to her bed and sat down.

Oogie shrugged as he scampered back under, "Suit yourself, sweetheart."

Courtney smirked at the little Boggart's retreat, but then looked slightly confused by what she dreamt. She then took her hand, the one that Justin had kissed and looked at it. She then asked herself, "It was just a dream… wasn't it?" She then sighed in exasperation and crawled back into bed, "I'll worry about it in the morning, after I head over to Justin's house."

* * *

**Next Day**

**Seyvont Residence**

* * *

Courtney had walked halfway across town, seeing that the home was located near the woods of Amityville. Courtney huffed as she carried her backpack with her, as well as Oogie in with her. She didn't consider the fact that he lived this far, although it wasn't a wonder why he drove around in that dune buggy. She grumbled a bit, "This had better be worth the bunions I'm gonna develop on my feet," and then looked at her feet as she grumbled, "Because these combat boots were not made for walkin', they're made to walk on over backs."

"Well, are ya ready, Court?" Oogie joked a little as he popped out of the bag, "Start walkin', girl!"

"Very funny," Courtney retorted, but then stopped as she and Oogie saw the Seyvont residence.

The house was a blue two story I-House, which in its design was typically a house two stories in height. It was generally with a side-gable roof, and always one room deep in the back of it. It was one of those popular houses formed in the US from the colonial period in the mid-1800s. Though a house like that was pretty popular in farm areas of Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa; hence the name 'I-House'. Though a house here, it was pretty rare somewhere in New England.

In truth, Courtney was amazed by this as she looked at it in awe, "Wow. Justin said he lived near the dump, but I didn't think their house was this nice."

Oogie squeezed his way out of her backpack as he hopped out and scurried near the door. It was then that he heard the sounds of tools and welding equipment, "Working men? In this neck of the woods?" he then scurried around the house, with Courtney still looking at the house in amazement, until Oogie spoke up, "Uh, the house may be a looker, but the backyard's _not_ something to behold."

Courtney eye browed in confusion as she followed Oogie to the backyard… and gasped at what she and the little boogie monster saw. The whole backyard was a football field of mounds of technological garbage that was scattered around, save for a dirt road trail. The two, questioning at first if they should walk it, heard the sounds of welding and tools winding and grinding at work down the path. As they past through the pathway they saw piles upon piles of junk, both mechanical and technological, some of it broken while some stuff seemed salvageable. But from the looks of things, most of the stuff was brought over, by means however unexplained, so it couldn't have been a dump at all at this point.

"Hey!" Oogie almost shouted as he stopped and pointed, "Take a look at that."

Courtney stopped as the two saw where the grinding, drilling, and welding sounds had originated at. In from of them was a three-story guest suite; a sort of granny house for in-laws who weren't ready for a retirement home. The house was actually two stories tall, but on the bottom, connected to a nearby hill next to the woods, a double-garage was built under it with stilts keeping the house balanced under the opened garage doors. Odd thing about it was that on the roof, there were two TV satellite dishes placed up there.

Courtney raised an eyebrow as she stopped, "What is this? Ghostbusters HQ?" but then stopped as she looked inside the open garage doors, and saw Justin.

He was busy, working on what appeared to be a Step Van of sorts, but it seemed different as he began welding at the back, attaching two back mufflers, and then turned his attention in wielding the middle of the van. The back wheels had been replaced with four semi-huge monster truck wheels connected together like caterpillar track wheels, and the back and on the top of the van's back doors was one of those small rear-view cameras that allowed a person to see the back when they couldn't see the back. But as the two walked in they saw that the Step Van only had the back storage part. The middle part was fused or welded with a middle part of a Dodge Sprinter family van, with the windows barricaded with steel plating. The front was that belonging to a Dodge Ram truck, with the doors reinforced with steel, but the windows and windshield remained the same. The high lights attached to the top, and lights attacked to the nose and sides; the grill was reinforced steel as well. In truth, it was the strangest vehicle they had ever seen.

As they walked in, they noticed Justin was nowhere to be seen, as Oogie hopped on top of the vehicle, looking at it curiously. Courtney wondered where Justin had gotten to and wondered around the garage, "Justin?" she looked around and saw a couple of power tools, welding equipment, and a few other stuff she couldn't put her finger on as she called out, "Justin, are you in here?"

"Yeah? HOLY…!" someone popped up, wearing a welding mask, big gloves, and a blowtorch and lighter, nearly scaring her out of her wits as she jumped back and yelped. The torch was still on as it nearly got into Courtney's face, who was a little shocked by the flame, but luckily she whipped up her hand. The flame suddenly shot into her hand and gathered in a small ball in her hand as she stepped away, carefully guiding the ball of fire in her hand. And then finally, she closed her hand on it, snuffing out the flame, and opened her hand up to reveal no burns whatsoever.

She then smirked at Justin, as he lifted the mask up and looked a little relieved, "Glad to know you've got those flame powers in control."

"Yeah, otherwise my mom would have to sue you for a hospital bill in skin-grafting," Courtney joked and sighed in relief as Justin took off his welding equipment. As he did, she looked around the place with her hands behind her back and occasionally asked, "So… you work in this guest house?"

"Nah, this is where I live and work," Justin answered as he cleaned his hands of grease with a cleaning rag.

This earned a slight surprise from Courtney as she asked, "You live alone?"

"Not quite," Justin answered as he lead her to a stairway as they walked up it, "My aunt's mostly never at home, and I usually tinker outside here at the Guest House," and then reached a door as Justin turned the knob and led up to the first floor of the house, "So basically this place is sort of my home away from home."

"So, you're basically living all by yourself?" Courtney asked, a little saddened by that.

Justin just shrugged, "Well, I'm not completely alone," Justin smirked at Courtney, "You're here."

Courtney was a little startled by that answer; she blushed slightly still a little confused about last night, but forgot about it, 'Save it. Just don't think about it for a while. I'm pretty sure the last thing he needs now is to remember that.' After Oogie followed after them and Justin closed the door, they noticed they were in the kitchen. Everything seemed normal about it, except for the white cylinder-shaped thing next to the sink and dishwasher.

She walked over to it as she lightly placed her hand on the top, and then it hissed. She jumped back as the lid of it moved upward, and out appeared a cylinder shelf of food, milk, and water. She looked at it confused as she looked to Justin who closed it back up, "It's a fridge I designed," he then led her out of the kitchen and near what appeared to be the Entertainment Room, "I pretty much entered that in Shop Class during my first year in High School this semester. Got an A+ for it."

"Killer," Courtney smirked and noticed the Entertainment room. It had a few comfy couches, a coffee table that was round, and the most impressive TV set up. The TV setup was sixteen different TVs connected together, with three DVD players, and a few speakers that were fixed up. It was the ultimate in entertainment of couch potato vegetation.

However, that wasn't what concerned her; she turned to Justin who plopped on the couch, and asked, "So, Justin…" she then sat down next to him as she brought her legs up on the couch and got comfortable, "The Kinsmir-Blade… how's that been working four you?"

Justin then sat up, almost feeling a little bit worried about what she asked. She berated herself in her head, 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! I shouldn't have asked that!' and then shamefully looked to him as she apologized, "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked…"

"No, it's alright," Justin asked, raising his hands in defense, "I just… you know… haven't started to practice using it," the two were at least lucky that the museum didn't catch them involved with what happened to the museum. Although they noticed the Kinsmir-Blade missing, they didn't have much leads on this at all. Though luckily they had a replacement duplicate of the bracelet for showcasing until the original could be found.

He then lifted his right hand up, showing the Kinsmir bracelet as he scrunched his face in deep thought, "Funny thing is… after I had this thing on for a few nights, I've been having weird dreams."

"Yeah?" Courtney asked, leaning towards him, interested, "Like what?"

Justin looked away a little as he felt a little freaked out as he stated, "Well, it's kind of strange… but they're all dreams of battles… that passed long ago."

"Like?" Courtney asked with a raised eyebrow.

Justin sighed as he answered, "Well… one of the battles was when I was fighting the Romans in Scotland… back in 117 A.D. And then there's a pirate battle on the waters, during 1657. And finally there was a battle in France, in 1943," he shook his head at it as he sat up and pulled his legs in for an Indian style sitting position, "It was just all too weird; it was like I was myself… but somebody else entirely."

Courtney felt a little freaked out at all this, "Justin, those battles ended a long time ago… some of them were centuries and millenniums ago," she started to seem a little worried as she pointed at the Kinsmir-Blade, "Has it… you know, tried to possess you like last time?"

Justin knew what she was talking about; the silver haired version of himself. From what she had told him when he was conscious, it sounded pretty cool, but at the same time, it was just terrifying. She told him that he was like a different person when he transformed; aggressive, violent, and scary. However, he shook his head as he answered, "No, but it has been telling me the same stuff as always."

"The same stuff?"

"Yeah, although it's always in my dreams," Justin answered as he looked at the bracelet, "It shows me that it was made from the blood of the First of both Vampire and Werewolf, and that it acts as a _Balance_ between them both," he then scratched the back of his head as he looked to Courtney, and now Oogie who popped up on the sofa's armrest, "The voice I keep hearing, it's kind of dulled down a bit now. I know the weapon's sentient, but the voice's dulled down now. It's more like a… like a little _push_ in the back of my mind," he then shook his head as he just shrugged, "But anyway, it's kind of difficult at this point; I don't really know how to control it."

Courtney could hear the tension in his voice as he stated this. She knew that controlling an element was tough, but living with a symbiotic weapon that was created from two of the most dangerous monsters ever… that was something more difficult. Feeling a little sympathetic towards him, she took his hand and held it, firmly but gently in hers. Surprised by this, Justin looked to Courtney as she smiled, "I'm not entirely sure I understand most of it, but I know what it's like to be given a huge power, and feel like you're not able to control it," but then she looked to Justin with an earnest smile as she finished, "But… I'm here for you. Me and the others, we'll help you out in this. Just like we'll help each other."

Justin, slightly stunned by Courtney holding his hand, blushed a little. Realizing what she was doing, but not letting go at all, blushed as well. But finally, breaking the mood at this point, Oogie chimed as he snickered, "Heheheh. Getting kind of comfy with yourselves, aren't ya?"

After hearing that, the two teens blushed brighter as their eyes widened in realization. They finally pulled away and looked away from one another, blushing like crazy. After Courtney had told him about him kissing her hand that night, it felt that things got a little weird between them both. Courtney felt like she was gonna explode form embarrassment, 'Great. I can barely look at him at this point. And that dream last night didn't help at all either,' she mentally screamed in her head, 'Oh, why does he have to look cute in both forms?'

Justin just gulped, thinking on how weird it was with happened that night between him and Courtney. Finally, he shook it off as he cleared his throat, "So, um… let's watch something," and grabbed the remote.

Courtney, finally broke out of her thoughts and nodded, "Uh, yeah!"

Justin pointed his remote and one of the TVs turned on to a news broadcast. However, the news at this point was less than encouraging as they saw the article on the local news, "_Police and coroners are here at the scene in Fever Swamp, where an attack was made on two teenagers_," the broadcast then showed the ravaged dead remains of what was once the teen boy, Johnny, "_The remains of Jonathan Rocksby was discovered by a group of drunken ravers. One Chelsea Shue has gone missing. Few witnesses had come early to the scene and reported seeing a creature leaving the scene with the girl. Some of the witnesses described the creature as being a… werewolf_," this caused the two teens to nearly jump up in shock at this as the report finished, "_Some believe that the Werewolf of Fever Swamp has returned, while others state that it might have been a bear attack_…"

"That doesn't look like a bear did that," Courtney whispered as she and Justin both grew in suspicion at this.

"_This is Chet Igocha, signing off_," and the news report ended. The two teens looked to one another as Courtney grabbed Oogie and headed for the garage to the Dune Buggy. They only had one place to go after this… back to the Halloween Store and hope that the others saw the news broadcast on the local news.

* * *

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

* * *

"Werewolves, eh?" Stranger asked as he walked down the stairway, along with Justin and Courtney with Oogie on her shoulder. Accompanying them were Alex, Elsa, and even Lilith, who was surprisingly part of the group now. They walked down the stairway as Stranger made his way to a door that was at the side of the stairwell. He picked out a few keys as he explained, "Haunted Masks and succubi are one thing," and then found the right one as he reached out and unlocked it, "Werewolves are a much wild and vicious creature to be hunting for you fresh bloods."

Alex just groaned as he rubbed his head in frustration, "How come we don't meet anything cute right now?" he then looked to everyone as he groaned in panic, "It's always something big, mean, and with lots of teeth."

"Which is why, you need to be a little more prepared more than ever now," Stranger replied as he walked down a darkened stairway, followed by the kids as they walked downward.

Courtney, being the clueless one around all this, sped up to Stranger and asked, "What is this place?"

Stranger then stopped as they reached the bottom of the stairway, and saw that they had gone more than twenty-five feet down from the store's main floor. Then, Stranger walked over to the right side as he reached out and flicked an unseen switch. Suddenly, the room lit up, revealing what seemed to be miles of shelves, with ladders leading up down an infinite hallway of shelves, filled with whatever item there was to deal with supernatural threats. Mountains of Silver, grocery market trays of garlic, a fountain of holy water connected in the ground, jars filled with four-leaf clovers, shavings of white oak; whatever you needed in this room, it had it all.

"Okay," Lilith sighed as she crossed her arms at this huge display, "Someone needs to put up a garage sale."

Stranger merely held his arms out as to show how huge the room was as he answered, "This… is the Supply Room," then Stranger turned to the kids as he walked over to the shelves containing silver, "After Elsa and I escaped from Revolta, we continued to move on around the world," and then he took a few bars of silver off the shelf, as well as two jars, both labeled as Wolfsbane and Locoweed, "Along the way, we gathered a few essential charms, ingredients, and a few other anti-monster essentials that we collected and gathered here in Amityville… in case someone ever read the book."

"Yeah, but…" Courtney asked as she looked around and raised an eyebrow at all of this, "How'd you get a basement _this _spacey?"

"Space port Key," Elsa explained as she looked to Courtney and the others and smirked, "This room we're standing in is actually a pocket dimension that's actually created by science rather than magic," she smirked, "A Mad Scientist in the country of Malaria created such a thing for large storing."

Suddenly, the door bell rang upstairs, alerting the others of their presence. Courtney and Elsa raced up the stairs to greet the customer, as the others were slowly catching up behind them. As soon as they reached the counter, it was Elsa who recognized the customer as a regular as she smirked, "Ah, Mr. Blake," and bowed her head in appreciation to the boy, "It's good to see you here again."

When Courtney first eyed him, leaning at the counter, she nearly frowned in disappointment at who it was. It was one of the jocks at school, the running back named Leon. She remembered, considering he was one of the boys she scared off when she was possessed by the Haunted Mask. He was a boy around sixteen, slim but muscular build, like a surfer's body. He was now wearing black jeans, a yellow and black trimmed Tank Top shirt, black and white shoes, but he wasn't sporting his school jerseys on him. His skin was dark tan with brown hair swept back, meaning he was of Hawaiian descent, and held back by a grayish brown headband, and blackish brown eyes.

He casually waved at Elsa as she came over to the counter, "Hey, Elsa," he then cleared his throat, "I'm just here for the usual."

"Wolfsbane and Locoweed?" Elsa asked, getting a nod from him, "Coming right up, Leon." And then rummaged around the counter display for what he needed.

As she did that, he looked at Courtney with a sort of interest as he half-smirked, who was assisting at the moment. Courtney caught him looking at her, and going unnoticed by the two was Justin, who had arrived with the others. She raised an eyebrow at the running back and nearly snarled, "And what are you looking at?"

Leon smirked almost lecherously as he leaned in close to her and gave her a shining smile, "A dark rose amongst this eerie shop," and then reached out for her hand, "A _very_ beautiful dark rose, I might add."

Courtney blushed at that as he was about to hold her hand, when all of a sudden, a third hand popped up. The two looked and saw Justin, standing in the middle of this as he looked to Leon, very displeased about the scene, "Hey, Leon."

Leon, returning to him, pulled back almost uncomfortable at Justin as he scowled, "Hello, Justin. How's your aunt?"

"Doing fine," Justin asked, getting a little strange attention from the others as they came up.

Lilith was walking up to the counter, when she spotted Leon winking at her. She immediately jumped to Justin, glomping on him as she playfully hugged him, as he was equally surprised by this action, "Oh, Justin. I'm scared; the playboy types are always after me."

"Maybe if you'd stop glomping on people…" Courtney scolded at her as Elsa popped back up.

"Here you go," Elsa cheerfully replied as she placed two brown bags on the table, labeled Wolfsbane and Locoweed. Leon gave her the usual pay as he took both bags and walked out of there. He then stopped at the door, and winked at all three girls, but blew a kiss at Courtney, whom ducked before she got it, and walked out of there.

Alex and Oogie, who both watched this scene, had a look of disgust on their faces. Alex just shook his head, often seeing Leon, the biggest flirt on the Amityville High School campus, try to hit on any girl he sat his eyes on. "Man, I swear that Leon guy goes after every girl he sees," he groaned out as he stood next to the others, "And what's worse… he gets like this at every full moon, even when he was a kid."

Courtney groaned as she rubbed her temples, with Lilith looking at her confused, "And just why did he hit on you the most?"

"Don't know," Courtney groaned as she leaned on the table, "I must have an uncanny pheromone to attract trouble."

Justin on the other hand, wasn't joking around at this as he saw Leon leave; a hard look of thought and suspicion on his face. There was something about Leon this time of year that was a little suspicious, even for a jock. And considering of the werewolf attacks and his odd disappearance at a full moon during every month… something was up.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

* * *

Somewhere, in a darkened room, only one light was shown in the entire place. For a moment, no one was there, until somebody stepped into the light. Whoever it was, couldn't be seen, due to the fact they were wearing a red cape and hood that shadowed who they were underneath. Then suddenly, a booming voice on a speaker was heard, "Red Scarlet," the voice boomed on a large screen in front of them, showing five figures sitting at a table in the shadows as the leader spoke up, "There's been a sighting of werewolf attacks located in the vicinity of Fever Swamp, Amityville. It may be nothing, but we speculate the Devil Dogs, the Lycans, are repopulating in this vicinity. You will receive your weapons, but your orders remain as they always do: hunt the monster down and kill them off, one by one."

The figure nodded and was about to leave until the voice spoke up again, "Just remember, Red… you know the price of failure… so don't begin to lose your edge," and then the screen went off, as did the lights as the mysterious red-hooded figure disappeared from sight, on its mission to Amityville to hunt down werewolves.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed pt.2**

**Bonus: Another Pofile, folks!**

Name: Justin C. Seyvont

Age: 15 (16 later on)

Hair: Dark Brown

Eyes: Brown

Likes: thinking, designing, and building new gadgets, including vehicles, mystery, horror, and action stories and films, Pizza, hanging out with friends, playing video games, applying new ideas to technology (especially to the Kinsmir-Blade)

Dislikes: Josh, Priscilla, getting wedgies, F's, anchovies, and the Kinsmir-Blade timing out at the wrong time, losing control of the Kinsmir-Blade, considering it changes his personality at times

Family: Parents (unknown); Margo Seyvont (Step mom/Aunt); Max Corvin (grandfather)

Background: Not much is known about Justin; he was orphaned as an infant at his aunt's doorstep. His aunt tried to balance herself in raising him and her job as an evolutionary-biologist, but it always caused him to be left alone sometimes. The only friends he had were the books in mechanics, technology, and other scientific fields, as well as a few kung fu and samurai movies, as well as a few people at the museum growing up. In some ways, his life was rather lonely.

Though that all changed when he first set his eyes on Courtney; almost sensing a kindred spirit in her. He befriends her at first, as well as befriending Elsa, Max, and the school's photographer, Alex J. Foxx. After Courtney read the Book of Goosebumps, Stranger accepts Justin's help as the team's tech head. However, later on in the story, Justin gains one of the 'Thirteen' of the Shadow Realm's most powerful weapons, the Kinsmir-Blade, a weapon that combines the power of two of the greatest monsters ever into him: Vampire and Werewolf.

Unable to control it at will, he is helped by the werewolf pack of Amityville, who have honored the Balance made by the artifact, unlike the vampires who seek to control its awesome power for themselves. After that, Justin becomes one of the group's most powerful team members.

Along the way, he seems to actually have some sort of hidden power to attract any girl that's, shall we say, abnormal. The first girl is Lilith, whom can't seem to pry herself off of Justin. In more ways than one, this can cause problems for a guy who's never been really good with girls. And it might prove even harder with a girl… who obviously has fallen for him before the Kinsmir-Blade chose him. However, despite all this, Lucien's training, his friend's being there for him as they are there for one another, his grandpa's advice, and Courtney's love and care, he has the strength and courage to be one of the strongest fighters on the team.Personality: Justin is the Gadget Engineer of the team, having developed the Garlic/Silver Mace, Urbicide Bomb, UV Flash Grenades, constructed some of the vehicles, and being able to hack into a computer and constructing a tracking device out of a GPS Locator. Justin is considered the technical side of the team, otherwise known later as the Night-bumpers (much to some of the team's dismay on the name), constructing some of the gadgetry and vehicles.

He is generally pretty laid-back when he's not working on his gadgets, except when it comes to fighting, training, playing video games, or fighting over the last slice of pizza. Justin also cares deeply for his friends, especially Courtney, and the fully customized Tumbler and Bike Pod, with a love that endures no matter how utterly destroyed the two vehicles both get.

Sarcastic and quick-thinking, he's somewhat of an ordinary boy. He cares for all of his friends deeply, and will fight to the finish to defend them. Justin also has a close bond with Courtney, who has grown to have much faith in him and his abilities.

Powers: Aside from having an engineering intellect as well as a photographic memory on kung fu and samurai moves, Justin is also in possession of the Kinsmir-Blade. A weapon that was created from the blood of the First of two creatures, Vampire and Werewolf: Dagon and Lycosan. Forged into a topaz gem resembling a cat's eye, and placed on a silver bracelet, it is a symbiotic weapon that reacts to the host's instincts and thoughts, making them into physical reality, but always takes the form of body armor.

However, there is a limit to the weapon, in that he can only use it for about Thirty Minutes. Afterwards, it will time out and retract back into a watch, charging up for another thirty minutes in usage. It also prevents the conscious personality within the Kinsmir-Blade to take over; otherwise Justin will gain both the creature's Hunger and Thirst.

Concept: Justin was inspired by the character Shinji in construction at first. Later, the concept came next to Peter Parker, hair-wise, design, and smarts as well as quick wits and fighting. The concept for the Kinsmir-Blade, not only came from the Witchblade, but also the Hybrid that Michael Corvin becomes in Underworld. Seeing that much power packed in one creature, I knew I had to give Justin an edge other than being a tech genius.

* * *

* * *


	14. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt2

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 13: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed pt.2**

* * *

**Amityville Junior High**

It was just another day in the high school, except for the rumors that were spreading like wildfire. Apparently the Werewolf of Fever Swamp was becoming quite the conversation piece everywhere in town these days. The disappearance of Chelsea as well as the mutilation of Johnny was even bigger talk than anyone ever thought at this point. Most kids were too scared to even go any further as to talking about Fever Swamp, let alone start another rave in that accursed area lest they anger the Werewolf again. Though most people thought it was just some superstitious fraught, and thought of it as a wild animal attack. However, a few students, Courtney and her friends, knew better.

However, the principal made it certain that the students wouldn't go to Fever Swamp. So later on, during Mythology Class, which Justin, Courtney, Alex, and now Elsa, took, the announcement was made on the intercom, ATTENTION STUDENTS. DUE TO THE ATTACK AT FEVER SWAMP, THE POLICE ARE USHERING A 7:30 CURFEW TO ENSURE NO MORE ATTACKS OR DISAPPEARANCES OCCUR. IN MORE, THE THANKSGIVING DANCE WILL SOON BE COMING AROUND THE CORNER, SO BE SURE TO BRING OVER A DISH OR TWO, AS WELL AS A DATE FOR THE DANCE. THIS IS PRINCIPAL MCKIBBLE SIGNING OFF.

Immediately after the intercom died off, Alex groaned in annoyance, "Great. Another dance, and another day I'm gonna go dance-less."

"I think we have more pressing matters than an upcoming dance," Courtney groaned as she looked to Alex and then to Elsa, who was sitting next to her, "We don't seriously know anything about this werewolf," she then placed the Book of Goosebumps, which she had brought along with her, and padded the cover as she stated, "This book gave only information on ways to defeat the werewolves, but nothing on the werewolf that's out there."

Justin, who was twirling a mechanical pencil in his hands, leaned in as he looked to Elsa and asked, "You were with Stranger and Mr. Stine, right? If this is one of the creatures in the book, then even you have to know what this werewolf looks like, or even _who_ it was."

Elsa merely shrugged as naively and innocently as she could, answered, "I'm sorry, but my memories aren't as good as they were back then."

After hearing that, Courtney asked, "What do you mean? Elsa, I know you're…" she looked around, making sure that no one other than the group knew, as she whispered, "… you know, older than you look, but your memory can't be _that_ bad."

Elsa shook her head as she stated, "No, it's nothing to do with age. It's just that…" she felt a little uneasy about what she was about to tell them. however, she had to confess her nature as she sadly smiled to them, "Well, if there were any other Gestalts or Frankenstein Monsters I knew of, they would tell you the same thing: we may have been made in an attempt to resurrect, but we aren't resurrected people," those present at that looked at her in confusion as she sighed sadly, "Even if it's the same corpse and brain of the same individual that died, they still won't be the same person. Memory loss and personality changes occur; no Frankenstein has ever retained who they once were, or even managed to piece together their past completely."

"Wait a minute," Courtney paused, having all this sinking through as she asked, "You mean… you don't even remember anything about your past? Even with Stranger and Stine? Or even before that?"

Elsa shook her head, "No, I remember my past experiences with Stine and Stranger. It's just that all sorts of new things happen every day, so I'm bound to forget a thing or two along the way. I remember what the werewolf looked like at first, but we never knew who the human was behind the wolf," Elsa stated as she crossed her arms, her face in a scrunch of frustration, "When we first tracked it, it remained in its Wolf-State when we entrapped it in the book. It could be anyone… it might be even a female."

"Though it still kind of stinks," Alex stated as he polished his camera lens, "Not remembering who you were, before… well, you know."

"Oh, that's all right," Elsa said as she waved it off, "What matters is the 'me' that I am now. Nothing good ever came from looking back at the past."

Courtney had to smile at her friend's strength in all that. Even though Elsa didn't remember her former life, she still had strength to keep on moving forward. But then Courtney smirked as she asked, "So… how's school life been so far on your first day?"

Elsa seemed surprised by that question and simply shrugged as she smirked, "It's been really great. I've never been in a high school before and it's amazing. Though a lot of people have been asking about the scarf, but that's not the real problem," the three looked at her confused as Elsa looked around, and saw a couple of boys smiling at her, blushing and waving shyly at her. She too waved shyly at them as she leaned in next to Courtney and whispered, "A lot of boys have been looking at me really funny. And whenever they get near me, they just blush and stutter."

Courtney and the boys looked at her in confusion, but then Courtney chuckled at that as the boys just laughed out loud. However, that laugh stopped as soon as Courtney had two hands go over her eyes. And then a familiar voice spoke out as he asked, "Guess who, Courtney?"

Courtney groaned as she was getting annoyed, "Oh, I don't know. Someone who's gonna have two bloody stumps to where his hands used to be?"

The hands pulled back as soon as Courtney and everyone else looked behind them, and saw none other than Leon. Leon, who was smirking like a love struck puppy, was smirking at Courtney's frowning, thinking she was just playing. He smirked as he leaned closer to Courtney and asked, "So… how ya doing this morning?"

"Well, I was doing fine," Courtney asked, slightly annoyed at this jock, "Until _you_ came along."

"Ah come on," Leon stated as he leaned towards her, in an attempt to hold her in his arms, "You should be happy to see…"

"Okay," Justin stated as he stood up and pulled Leon away from her, "Take a cold shower, Wolf-boy," all of a sudden, Leon just paled at that, but Justin finished, "That's what everyone calls you around here; Big Bad Wolf, considering everyone says you go after every girl you flirt at like a big, juicy steak."

"That sounds completely gross," Elsa stated as she cringed.

Frowning at that comment and the reaction looks he got from the girls, Leon broke loose of Justin's grip. He then looked at Justin as he smirked and looked back at the girls, "Hey, didn't he tell you? Justin and I used to be old classmates back in elementary school."

"Yeah," Justin sighed, crossing his arms at the memory of such a time, "And we were actually friends _before_ he went with the Jock Crowd," just then, he had on his face a puzzled look, "Come to think of it, we stopped seeing each other when you turned ten. Why is that?"

A little surprised by that question, Leon hid his surprised nature as he cleared his throat, "I was going to school at my grandpa's place. He lives in Florida, so it'd only be reasonable why you didn't see me for so long. Or why our friendship died out," He then smirked at Justin, about to throw something back at him that would probably mark as an insult, "Though the only reason I terminated our friendship from such a young age, was from a rumor I heard about you."

"A rumor," Elsa asked naively, while Courtney didn't like where this was going.

"Yep," Leon smirked as he looked at Justin, whose face was scrunched with annoyance, "I heard that at a young age, he was on the way to Fag-Town."

Courtney stood up as she stated, "Justin is not gay!"

"Oh really?" Leon seemed to press on further. Then he grabbed Justin by his right wrist, as he held it up for everyone to see the Kinsmir-Blade watch, "Then why's Seyvont wearing jewelry?" and then leaned in close to Justin, as if to rub it in his face, "Unless… I'm right?"

"Oh no, he didn't," Alex mumbled as he put his camera away, "That boy is crazy."

Justin was getting slightly bugged by this sort of situation; his face contorted in a silent but noticeable fit of upcoming rage. It wasn't the fact that he was being accused of being gay that got to him, it was the fact that his former childhood friend was hitting on Courtney. And the fact that she wasn't taking any interest in him at all, it just made him angry at this point. Suddenly, without anyone noticing, even Leon or Justin, the Kinsmir-Blade sprouted out small tendril claws that lashed out at Leon's hand, scratching and stabbing at it. Leon yelped as he jumped back, nearly starting everyone as he held his bleeding hand, and scolded at Justin.

"AGRH! You psycho!" Leon shouted at Justin as he glared at him, both earning an audience from one another, "Just like a fag; you scratched my hand like a cat!"

"You know you're starting to give yourself away, buddy?" Justin nearly shouted in frustration, unaware that the Kinsmir-Blade was slowly encompassing his hand into an armored knuckle gauntlet, "The way you just talk it out like that… kinda makes everyone wonder if you're on you way to Fag-Town."

Leon just growled at that shot, with Justin joining in as they both stared at one another. Anyone who was watching this got up from their desks as they shouted and chanted, "Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!" both Elsa and Courtney looked worried to one another as the two boys didn't move or flinch from the urges of the crowd. However, if anyone noticed or heard from either one, Leon was letting out a small canine-like growl from his throat, while Justin's canines were slightly growing into fangs, and letting out a deeper growl, sounding much more dangerous than Leon's, but both on the verge of lunging at one another on the spot.

"This isn't gonna end well," Alex mumbled as he stood next to Elsa.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Elsa asked, a little worried on what this would do, "I mean, if a teacher finds out…"

"That actually would be a pretty good thing to happen at this point," Alex stated, "Considering an adult should be the one to break this fight up."

Courtney, looking at Justin's teeth slowly grow out, knew that the Kinsmir-Blade was activated. She went wide eyed and paled at the memory of the creature that they saw that night, 'Oh no! That's the last thing we need right now!' she got up from her seat and ran in between the two as she shouted, "Both of you stop this right now! You both need a time out!"

The two stopped, not doing anything at this moment, but finally managing to calm down. The calmness to both of them eased the tension, long enough for Justin's teeth to return to normal, as well as the Kinsmir-Blade to retract back into a watch again.

But just as that ended, someone burst into the room, "Alright, everyone. Please sit down, so we may take attendance," everyone broke up and began to sit in their assigned seats, even Leon whose bleeding had ended somehow. Justin and Courtney both sat back down together as the man came in. he was a physically fit gentleman, of British or European decent due to his accent, grayish blonde hair slicked back, somewhere in the ages of thirty or forty, Caucasian, and dark brown eyes that had a dark veil above them in some way, even when he wore reading glasses. He was dressed in khakis, brown shoes, a purple turtleneck shirt, and a brown plaid lab coat.

He then set his bag on the teacher's desk as he took a piece of chalk, and wrote on the board. He then announced to everyone with his back turned, "My name is Mr. Isaacs, I'll be your substitute teacher for this semester. Mr. Crony is unavailable due to an… unforeseen development in his family," as he talked, one of the jocks took out a piece of gum, and began to chew it, noisily, much to the other students' annoyance. However, that ended as Mr. Isaacs stated, "That doesn't mean I tolerate such things, as gum chewing, in this class!" and then turned around and chucked a piece of chalk at the jock, startling him.

After calming a bit, Mr. Isaacs turned back to the chalkboard, and wrote on it, Legend. He then turned to the class and asked, "Now… to begin the class, does anyone know what this word means?"

"Legend," Courtney answered out, getting Mr. Isaacs attention, "Well, it's like a fairty tale. It's a… a lie that everyone believes in order to understand the real reason for things."

Mr. Isaacs nodded in approval, "That's very good, Ms. Keller," he then saw Leon raise his hand, surprising to everyone around him, and he asked, "Yes, Mr. Blake?"

"Well, just because something's a legend, doesn't mean it's not real," Leon stated, smirking at Courtney who looked to hear his question. All he earned was a disgusted frown from her, as he went on, "Kind of like werewolves."

"Oh, yeah right," Alex mumbled.

This earned him a glare from Leon as he asked, "You think that's funny, Foxx?"

"Not really," Alex answered as he pointed out, "Nobody here believes in werewolves, right?" No one said anything, not even from his friends, as everyone either was quiet, or looked away frightened as Alex asked to get someone to say something, "Right?" No one still answered, not even Mr. Isaacs, who seemed pretty intrigued. So Alex sighed in defeat as he stated, "Okay."

"Do you believe… in the legend of Fever Swamp, Mr. Blake?" Mr. Isaacs asked rasing an eyebrow to the boy, somewhat interested in the young man's beliefs.

"Pretty much, Mr. Isaacs," Leon stated as he got everyone's attention as Leon was prepared to tell the tale, "Legend has it that Fever Swamp was once a beautiful and peaceful place. Where the sun could shine and life was ever present and bountiful. That is… until the dawning of the 20th Century, when Man decided to come in, and strip the land of everything that it once was. They had built an oil pump that devastated the swamp completely. The trees became black and grew together, forming monstrosities. The swamp water became boiling ooze that nothing could survive within its waters. It became a ruin of its former self; greedy men had destroyed the swamp, ravaging it like it had a fever, hence the name Fever Swamp. However, the pumps stopped all of a sudden one day, when half of the workers ran out of there, halfway being mauled, while others claimed that the rest of them were torn apart by some animal. Those who survived raved on about a man, who was part dog, and more vicious than anything they'd ever seen. The people, who used to live in the swamp, claimed that the spirits brought it there, and to this day, lives in the abandoned oil rig as its den. From that day on, no one dared to go into what was now called Fever Swamp, unless they faced the Werewolf."

The room was silent from that little story, everyone felt like a tingle was going down their spine at this point. Courtney was starting to have a better understanding on what they were dealing with now. However, if this werewolf had lived in the swamp for a long time now, why did it wait for now to show up?

Mr. Isaacs nodded as he looked to the students, "And speaking of werewolves, does anyone here know of the legend of such a creature?" Courtney shot her hand up as fast as she could, and Isaacs nodded, "Yes, Ms. Keller?"

"Werewolves are mythological humans with the ability to shapeshift into wolves or wolf-like creatures," Courtney explained, boning up to her title as the 'Supernatural Girl' of Amityville, "It's either on purpose, being bitten by another werewolf, being placed under a curse, or being born as one. Most of their transformations occur with the appearance of a full moon; however, there is some legends that state they can change through will alone. Their also most noticeable to being vulnerable to Silver. Being shot by a silver bullet, stabbed or slashed by a silver knife, or being bashed by a stick with a silver handle can actually kill them."

"Actually, that's the part of the myth that's not true," Leon interrupted, earning everyone's attention to him as he stated, "Silver can hurt a werewolf, but it's not enough to kill him with just that. The only way to completely kill a werewolf… is by removing the head, or destroying it with either silver item. Only when the head is separated from the heart by silver, can the werewolf die."

The students were all but amazed by this, even Courtney was amazed. But all that stopped as Mr. Isaacs asked, slightly unaffected by this knowledge but seemed a bit inquisitive in the young man's knowledge, and asked in an interrogating but calm tone, "Where did you learn all that, Mr. Blake?"

Leon mere shrugged at that, "A couple of friends talked to me about it."

Before anyone could delve into that, the bell rang for the day, excusing everyone from the class. Leon brushed past Courtney and the group, winking charmingly at her in particular, and earning the Finger for him in response.

* * *

**Cooking Class**

* * *

The cooking class was the only classroom in the school that looked like the kitchen of a Five-Star restaurant. Chopping tables were amazingly designed, stoves were brand spanking new, and ingredients were never hard to come by in the classroom's fridges. However, today they weren't going on over the next recipe on how to make spaghetti. It was a free day of sorts for those who were in there cooking. Some were making stew in croc-pots, others were experimenting on salads, and a few were baking their own versions of cakes. However, one girl was busy in the corner, mixing up a special mix.

Lilith was hard at work, mixing together what appeared to be peanut butter and chocolate cookies. You could tell she was working hard, considering her apron was nearly stained with the mix, and a few smudges were on her face as well. She sighed for a moment, wiping her brow off with a handkerchief, as she smiled at the mix, "Ah, nothing like a labor of love of cooking to make this more enjoyable," she then smiled scheming as she thought to herself with a small giggle or two, 'And love is just the thing I need with this batch,' and then she pulled out a small packet with a heart label on it, resembling a glyph of sorts, and poured a little of it inside.

She began to mix in the batch as she smirked, 'Once Justin gets a taste of these cookies, with a little mix of Love Potion in it, he'll just be gushing all over me.'

* * *

_She imagined herself, wearing nothing but a white satin silk sheet wrapped around her body. She held it together with one hand on her chest as she dreamingly looked up to Justin, who stood only a few inches right in front of her. He wasn't wearing his shirt at this time, but looked to her, all cool and romantic-like to her. _

_He then gently cupped her face as he whispered to her, making her cheeks flush, "Lilith… you're amazing…"_

"_Oh, Justin…" Lilith cooed as she got on her tip toes, and the two kissed passionately, nearing to the point of making out._

* * *

Lilith blushed and stared at the window all starry eyed from her little daydream. She finally squealed out as she held her flushed cheeks and shook her head in delight as she smiled, "EEEEEEEEEEEEE! HE'S JUST SO HOT! I'M GETTING GOOSEBUMPS JUST THINKING ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT NOW!"

However, that small little outburst, earned a little gossip going that went without Lilith knowing it started at all.

* * *

**Gym Class**

* * *

In the basketball court, which was vastly huge, groups of boys and girls were separately doing their own gym activities. Leon was currently in the group as he conversing with some of the guys. They had thought that after Justin had somehow scratched his hand violently, that he'd be hindered in playing anything that day. But miraculously, his hand was all better as he was throwing a few basketballs into the hoop with no problems at all. He was currently sitting on the bleachers, taking a breather, as well as enjoying the view, and by view he was thinking of the cheerleaders in their midriff outfits.

One of the cheerleaders, smirking with glee, gossiped with a few of her friends. The first girl asked her friends, "So is it true with all the rumors going on? Are Seyvont and Keller really dating?"

That caused Leon's ears to perk up suddenly, listening in on the conversation. The second girl shrugged, "You know, I'm not really sure, but they have been seen going everywhere together."

Leon scowled and his eyes bulged at this piece of information as the third girl started, "I even heard a rumor that Seyvont was shirtless, right in front of Keller… and he kissed her hand," she sighed for a moment, envious of such an experience, "I wish my boyfriend would do something like that. I mean not the shirt part; I've already seen him topless. But to have your hand kissed… that's so old-fashioned but it's sooooooooooo dreamy!"

The girls sighed, envious of Courtney's supposed romantic experience. However, Leon was growling or teething as a vein popped on his forehead and his upper face was covered in shadows. Until finally, he shot up from his seat, holding his head with his hands, and wept out loud hysterically, "Going out together? Shirtless? KISSING ON THE HAND?" he now just imagined them all over each other; his beloved Courtney giving herself to that loser, Justin, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! THIS IS NO JOKE! JUSTIN! JUSTIN IS BAD! BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

The girls just stepped back for a moment, after seeing Leon act the way he was currently acting. One of the girls whispered, "Sheesh! What got into him?"

Leon finally took a breather as he finally calmed down. He glared at the floor and at his reflection, 'I need to take precautions. The only way to split those two apart… is…'

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed pt.3**

* * *

**Profile Bonus!**

* * *

**Name**: Elsa I. Gynoid

**Age**: 14/15 (actual age 87 years old)

**Hair**: Ruby red with a white lightning streak in it

**Eyes**: Emerald Green

**Likes**: Sewing, making friends (especially her friends), pizza with any toppings (pickles, peanut butter, and mint frosting) video-games

**Dislikes**: Fighting, Bad people, Revolta, her battery dying on her in the worst timing ever, being reminded that she's not human, mobs and torches

**Family:** Unknown (Father/Creator); John Stranger (Surrogate Brother); Stine (Surrogate Father)

**Background:** Not much is known about her, considering her memory is scattered like a jigsaw puzzle. All she knows is that she was born in the mad scientist country called Malaria, a place hidden in a never-ending storm. She was recruited by Revolta to safe-guard Stine and Stranger on their journey to complete the Book of Goosebumps. Along the journey, she befriends them, which leads her to side with the humans completely, even after Revolta kills Stine after trying to get the book.

After hiding out in Amityville for nearly sixty-something years, she and Stranger had a pretty easy life, running a Halloween store while guarding the book from an unsuspecting world. That is, until their newest employee, Courtney read the book aloud and unleashed all that they had captured. Now she must join in the hunt once more, providing the power/muscle in the hunt.

Along the way, she's completely obsessed with trying to fit in. Getting into ridiculous and somewhat dangerous situations with the others. And along the way she will gain what she had longed more than ever: friends and being accepted by Man.

**Personality**: Elsa's personality is often friendly and optimistic, though this also comes with being rather naïve as to her surroundings. Oftentimes, people like Priscilla and Ivy take advantage of her friendliness to further their own goals. And even though she is half-mechanical and knows not her own past, she continues to strive to being human, convinced that her half-artificially enhanced body does little to impede on her abilities to be fully human. She desires secretly to live the life of a normal teenager and often makes this desire quite apparent to her friends and creator.

While naive, she is extremely perceptive. When the others get angry, she keeps her cool and scolds calmly and rationally. She also states that she "cannot live in a world where they must fight," showing that she values her friends more than anything.

Her relationship with Courtney and the others is extremely important to her, and throughout the story she and the others have continued to bond.

While she at first got on Courtney's nerves, the two have become closer friends as the story progresses. In a situation between Slappy, they were forced to learn about each other in order to help save their friends from the crazed dummy. Since their experience, the two have become closer friends, spending time working out or conducting séances.

Elsa is also good friends with Leon, with whom she lifts weights, and Justin, whom later repairs her mechanical and vital components.

Elsa is naive and somewhat insecure, but her naiveté is not to be mistaken for stupidity. Though it is this naiveté that endears her to others. A Gestalt (reanimated and altered corpse) and an outsider, she is still rather new to the Outside World and its customs. This leads to much confusion for her and others, such as the awkwardness in casually drinking mustard. She takes friendship very seriously, and is easily distressed when others, especially her friends, argue or fight.

She is arguably the most social of the team, regularly meditating with Courtney, or lifting weights with Leon. Above all, she wishes to be friends with everyone she meets, and for everyone to get along.

**Powers:** Being a Gestalt, her body has been pieced together from the corpse of a fifteen year old girl, and mechanical components have been implanted in her body. These components give her immense strength, allowing her to lift up to more than 50 tons or more. And due to her electrical generator, she is able to use a small burst of speed for a charged attack, charge up electrical equipment by using her hands as electric clamps, and using the electrical energy to create a magnetic blast wave when she claps her hands together really hard.

However, it is due to her generator and her metallic components are also a weakness. If the generator tubes are cracked and sprayed on by water, she could short out and go unconscious. And due to her metallic components, she can easily get magnetized. And there is another problem; Elsa's generator needs constant charging once a month. If she fails to do so, she'll shut down in a temporary stasis lock, being nothing more than a lifeless doll. After being rebuilt into what she is today, she experiences limitations due to her machine parts, such as having to rely on a battery pack that requires a monthly recharge.

**Concept**: Elsa was created from the concept idea of Starfire and Jenny Wakeman. The mechanical components were the combined idea from Ben 10's Benvicktor and Van Helsing's Frankenstein monster.


	15. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt3

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed pt.3**

* * *

**After School**

* * *

The school doors busted open as all the teens ran out of the school. They were all excited to get home for any partying, pizza nights, home movie moments in which they invited for their friends. But they all had one thing on their minds: they couldn't go outside due to the curfew due to the attacks at Fever Swamp. All the teens ran out to bikes or to their cars, trucks, or vans. However, as usual that day, Courtney was walking out of the school, along with Elsa and Justin, and Alex cleaning his camera lens behind them as they traversed the stampede in the hallway.

As they did, they helped one another squeeze through the teenage crowd, trying to get through them and had successfully gotten through. They had gotten to their lockers, with Courtney getting out and now wearing her black hoodie jacket with strap sleeves, and a white skeleton-pipe ribbed design on the front. But not until Oogie hopped out of the locker, unnoticed, as he huffed, "Sheesh! How long were you gonna keep me in there?"

"Just for today," Courtney answered with an apologetic smile to him, and stuffed him in her jacket, "Tonight and tomorrow, it'll be totally different."

"Yeah, I'll bet," Oogie mumbled as he stuck his head out of the open jacket and acted like a stuffed animal from there on out.

Justin had swapped out some of his books and stuffed in some new ones as he tied his jacket around his waist; his trademark look that he usually wore. Alex, as always, got out a few rolls of film, camera lenses, and a flash with a Heat-seeing lens, just for tonight.

Justin turned around, looking over his shoulder as he was looking for someone in the crowd. Courtney noticed the strange look she saw on his face, and walked up to him, asking, "Justin?"

He jumped a bit, startled, as he turned to her and asked, "Uh, yeah? What is it, Courtney?"

"You were staring out in the back," Courtney explained, slightly confused as she asked, "Is something wrong?"

Justin just shrugged as he answered, "It's nothing. I'm probably the only one wondering where Li…" and then suddenly, he got tackled to the ground, as Courtney jumped up in surprise by this as she saw Justin crash on the ground with someone on top of him. Justin groaned as he slowly tried to get up, "Jeez, pal. I know you're in a hurry to get out of school, but don you think…" but then he stopped as he gulped and saw who it was.

Lilith was the one who ran into him; sitting on top of him, she smiled at him as she blushed and squealed, "We're finally back together again, Justin," she then dreamily looked at him as she leaned in, attempting to kiss him, despite Justin paling at this.

SMWAK!

Lilith felt the touch of warm lips on hers and slowly opened her eyes to see her 'one true love'… only to see the face of Courtney kneeling in between her and Justin. And Oogie as well, as she was kissing the Boggart on his right face cheek. She then jumped off, spitting out the fur, as Oogie rubbed at his face as Courtney stood up, sticking him back in her jacket. Finally, Asuka pouted at Seiji, "Eww! Courtney… why'd you do that?"

Courtney just grimaced as she bluntly pointed out to her as Justin got up, "I was about to ask you the same question."

"Oh, come on, Courtney," Lilith innocently answered as she jumped at Justin, and grabbed his arm, almost pressing it up to her, "I'm not losing Justin to you just like that. Don't forget… he's still my Destined One."

"Yeah right," Courtney grumbled, and then pointed out, "And need I remind you, that if you do kiss him on the lips, he'll just become your slave. Am I right?"

"Oh, come on! I wouldn't let that happen to my sweetie, Justin," Lilith shot out, but then sighed as she released him and shrugged, "Oh well… I guess we'll have to postpone our true love until after this werewolf thing's blown over." But then Lilith smirked scheming as she looked at the basket she was currently carrying, holding her special cookies, 'However, Courtney… the battle to win Justin's heart shall be mine… once he eats these special Love Potion cookies. It'll ensure our lovey-dovey union between our hearts are in unity with poetry and music!'

"Miss Keller," somebody called out to them in a friendly tone as they all turned around. They saw it was Mr. Isaacs from Mythology 101, as he walked down the stairs and stopped to them, "I'm sorry if I'm catching you at a bad time, Miss Keller, but I was adamantly curious. Just… how does a young girl such as you come to know such things as werewolves or other creatures?"

"Other creatures?" Courtney asked, not liking where this was going.

"Rumor has it one of the students were saying you were talking about Boggarts and Succubi," Mr. Isaacs pressed on, seeing the kids get a little uneasy about that last part, "Is there… a certain type of book… or book collection… that the library has that's in town?"

The kids didn't like where this guy was going, asking all these questions and whatnot. And Courtney knew she couldn't tell this guy about the Book. So she decided to lie on it, "Oh, um… well, I work at a bookstore of sorts," she shrugged, hoping this would have been believable; "They have a wide assortment on books on stuff like that."

"Really?" Mr. Isaacs asked with a smile of sorts as he nodded, "Well, I suppose I should check it and see for myself some time," he then walked past them as he walked past them all, leaving the kids in puzzlement on that conversation.

After Isaacs had left the kids began to walk away from the school campus, as Alex shivered, "Man… that guy just gives me the willies."

"I know what you mean," Elsa shivered as she tugged on her backpack's straps, "There's just something about him that's a little… unsettling about him."

"Makes you wonder if he's the werewolf," Justin replied with a half-smirk to the gang as he joked, "Though I doubt he's got much of a pheromone if none of the girls' have gone after him yet."

"Can you people put aside Mr. Isaacs for just one full hour?" Courtney stated as she groaned out loud, "Sheesh, we've got a major crisis on our hands here. A werewolf's on the loose in Fever Swamp, preying on both village idiots and skanky maidens, and you guys want to start pointing fingers at the substitute teacher, considering how suave and creepy he acted during class? Sheesh… you guys must have had some serious childhood problems with substitute teachers."

"Jeez, Cour, lighten up on them," Oogie stated as he looked up to her from where he sat/rested, "Sounds to me like you've got a little crush on the teacher."

After hearing that, Courtney blushed a little as her face contorted with annoyance, "What are you talking about, Oogie? I don't have the hots for a guy like that; he's somewhere in between his thirties or forties!"

"Funny," Lilith started to joke as she walked up next to Courtney and playfully nudged her, "He seemed like the type for you, Courtney. Though I'm pretty sure a much more mature fellow like him could live up to a girl with your kind of temper."

"Keep talking, demon skank," Courtney sneered at Lilith, their rivalry sparking back up as they went eye-to-eye at this point, "You want to go, She-Demon?"

Lilith's forehead began to sprout out a vein or two throbbing, as she growled at Courtney, "Oh, bring it on, Living Dead Girl."

The two were snarling at once another, as usual to depict their friendship/rivalry at this point. The only one to pale at this scene… really pale… was Oogie, considering he was in the middle of this little debacle. He gulped as saw the seething anger between the two; Lilith with her succubus tail sticking out and sticking upward like a mad cat's tail, and Courtney's eyes and shoulders, glowing aflame. Oogie knew he didn't want to be apart of this, so he spoke out, "Um, if I may remind you, there's a werewolf on the loose in Fever Swamp. So shouldn't we do something about it, rather than go at each other's throats considering you're talking about boys or at least trying to win Justin's affections in any way you both can?"

At that mention of Justin's affections, both Justin and Courtney shouted out in frustration, "I'm/she's not trying to win my/his affections!"

After that, everyone huffed as Alex asked, "So um… what's the plan?"

* * *

**Later that Night**

**Fever Swamp**

* * *

The night only made the swamp much more eerie as the Full Moon shined on over. The swamp buzzed with owlish hoots and crickets chirping like crazy, making the silence all around the forest swamp unbearable. However, that silence ended as soon as a rumbling sound was heard, coming from the area of the Swamp that was near the roads. In fact, it sounded like the roaring of a supped up car engine, getting louder and louder. Suddenly, a huge bright light came rushing into the forest, nearly knocking over some of the trees.

Running down the hill, running over the swamp grounds, was the same truck-like vehicle Justin had been working on that day. It was fully running and traversing down through the swamp, cutting through the thick vines that tried to block any vehicle that stood in its way, with the honking and roar of a highway truck. The headlights were on, lighting up the way and nearly making the pathway light up to be as bright as daylight as ever. The tires tore through the ground, making it feel like it was just a plain old dirt road they were driving through. In truth, it was a pretty tough truck if it could plow through the terrain of Fever Swamp.

Finally, the truck came to a screeching halt next to a couple of huge honking trees. Sitting in the front seat was Courtney, with Oogie in her lap, strapped to it with his four tails stretched and wrapped around the armrests. And sitting in the driver's seat was Justin as he sighed and looked to the duo, "Well… that was pretty good for the _Cerberus_' first test drive."

"Yeah," Courtney smirked as she wrenched a still freaked out Oogie from her lap as she stood up from the seat, "But did you have to go that fast?"

Justin just shrugged as he undid his seatbelt, "Sorry about that," and then stretched as he answered, "I just can't help but go fast on the wheel… and when no cops are around."

"Guess that'll make us wonders what will happen when there are cops," Alex groaned as he took off his seat belt in the second part of the vehicle, the one where the midsection was the van.

Sitting side-by-side to him was Elsa, who didn't seem too fazed up about the drive, "I don't know, I thought it was pretty great and fun."

"Yeah," Lilith cheered on as she undid her seatbelt and sat up with everyone, "Let's do that again the chance we get out of this."

"Okay, everyone," Justin stated as he locked the front doors, "To the back of the vehicle. Rear end: supply station and weapons storage."

As they walked to the end of the vehicle, they stopped at two iron doors. Justin walked first as he knew how to open them, and pushed down two knobs that clicked as he opened the doors. These doors led to the rear of the truck, which seemed to be a little more high-tech than the front or the middle. On the left side of the truck was a computer system with a desk, computer, and monitors that showcased the front, back, and sides of the truck, even underneath it. And on the back were tools to fix the truck in case the need to do so would come to it. The front doors had metallic and glass-door shelves that contained a few silver fixtures, ingredient charms, as well as a few other tings. And on the right wall, was a weapon holding display, with not one weapon on there, but on the bottom of it, was a trunk of sorts.

Lilith, like the others, looked at it in amazement, and looked to Justin, "Wow, you work pretty fast on a tight schedule."

Justin shrugged, "Yeah, but not fast enough," he then walked over to the chest, and opened it, "I only had enough time to make these for everyone." He then pulled out a few silver handle sticks roughly the size of a TV remote. He then squeezed a button on the mid part of it easily with his thumb, and out shot out a silver sharp point, making the item resemble a silver steak, "Retractable and Spring-loaded Silver Steaks at the ready," and then handed each two, "Two for each person."

He then opened the glass casket, and took out a few pepper spray cans, spray painted black as he gently tossed one to each of the others, "Mace filled with a mixture of Silver Nitrate and Wolfsbane," but then as everyone placed it in their pockets, he stated, "But be careful when using them; they don't really have a good range, so use them sparingly."

Alex, seeming to be the most shaken up on this, shakingly asked, "So, um… got any… crossbows with silver arrows… any kind of rifle or handgun with silver bullets or shells?" everyone turned to him as he gave his reasons, as he held up the sheathed steak in his hand, "Cause you know, I'm probably speaking for everyone in this room, that maybe we need something like that. Considering we shouldn't even have to get close to a snarling, hairy, and probably carnivorous man-beast, that probably has rabies."

Everyone then turned to Justin, hoping for any reply or answer to that. The only response they got from this was Justin, sheepishly scratching the back of his head, and looking away. Everyone slightly paled at this, knowing the answer, even as Oogie gulped, "You didn't make any kind of gun or rifle, did you?"

Justin sighed, "Not even a crossbow," seeing the worried looks on their faces, he shrugged, "It was a rush-hour job. Besides, I didn't have the materials, or made the designs for that kind of weaponry yet."

"In other words: we are so doomed," Alex moaned, his shoulders slouching at this sign of despairing news.

Lilith frowned at Alex's moping, and stepped up as she announced, "Come on, you guys," trying to bucker up everyone as she started up, "So we're limited to a couple of silver steaks and wolfsbane mace. We've got more on our side than anyone here cares to notice!" She pointed to Courtney, "Elemental Firepower," then to Elsa, "Electrified strength," then to Oogie, "Our Fear Factor," then to Justin, in a fan girl tone, "Kinsmir Wildcard!" and then to herself, "and Succubus Femme Fatale!"

"Hey!" Alex protested as he asked, "And what about me?"

Lilith just shrugged as she responded in a deadpan tone, "And Camera Boy, the normal one of the group."

* * *

**Later On**

* * *

Before any more arguing went on, the teens had split into teams to cover more ground of the Fever Swamp. Alex had elected to stay in the Cerberus, considering he would probably be the bait to stay in one spot, but mostly because Justin had told him the Cerberus had been armored plated before it was painted at that point. This meant that the teen would be given a little more protection in one spot to where he could radio anyone, considering they all had small handheld walkie talkies with them. Lilith and Elsa were checking out the old abandoned Oil Rig factory, considering they had a hunch that was where the Werewolf would most likely be resting at. They had heard from most of the stories that after the factory was abandoned, the Werewolf had taken refuge in the empty and darkened place. If anything, whatever escaped the book would probably take refuge in such a place. In the meantime, Courtney, Oogie, and Justin were traversing through the place, once known as Fever Swamp, in the hopes of finding the werewolf before it found the other two parties.

As the trio walked near the swamp, the trio couldn't help but notice the eerie spot to what would be called a swamp. A few rotten logs lay strewn in some areas of the river-sized swamp waters of the said Fever Swamp. There were hardly any living plants at all, near the shore of the swamp waters, in the swamp waters, or growing out of the swamp waters at all; just dead trees and a small blanket of mist vaguely swaying over the so-called swamp waters of Fever Swamp. The water itself was barely anything resembling water as it bubbled, oozed, and bloated out small pockets of gas out of the blackened sludge that could be considered as water. In truth, whatever damages the oil rigs and pumps had caused to the Swamp, it sure made it into one sticky deathtrap, should any fool decide to take a little dip in it.

After taking a look at it, and a whiff of the air around the sludge swamp, Courtney nearly gagged, "Oah! Ugh! Oh, sweet Poe!" she coughed as she pinched her nose, "That smell… it's unbearable!"

Justin coughed up as well, "Tell me about it," and helped Courtney along as they passed it, making dead sure not to fall into it, "The town's committee has been trying to pass down an act to get this place cleaned up. But no one's been brave enough due to the Werewolf rumors."

Scurrying next to Courtney on all fours, Oogie grimaced as he looked at the swamp sludge waters bubble and steam, "Sheesh! If a dead fish and a homeless person had a baby, and if the baby puked, and if an old farting dog ate the puke…" and then pointed at the swamp as he stated, "… then that would smell like the rear end of the dog." And then he spotted a small dragonfly flying near the swamp waters, as it landed on the sludge water. Then suddenly, it was swallowed up, almost as if the swamp was alive somehow. Oogie gulped at such a scene as he turned towards the teens, "Okay, mental note, guys: don't go into a dip in that place. Otherwise, we'll be sludge food."

"Noted," Courtney gulped, almost fearing what she had just witnessed. But as she did so, she couldn't help notice that something was watching over them as they traversed around the swamp.

Unnoticed by any of them from the ground, something watched them from up the trees. For hopping from one tree branch to the other, a strange petite figure was watching over them with a strong gaze and focus. A figure wrapped in a long red cape, and whose face was shadowed by a red hood as well. The strange one was overlooking the two as they traversed the swamp, but the stranger also took notice of the black and purple Boggart accompanying them. The stranger reached into their red cloak, about to pull something out. But then stopped as the figure heard a twig snapping, and sharply turned to sense where the noise was coming from.

Meanwhile, Courtney was fiddling with her left bang as she looked away from Justin's direction as she and Oogie walked alongside Justin. Then suddenly, a cold wind brushed against her as she shivered lightly. Even if she was wearing a dark sweater, it wasn't built for the coldness that crept with the coming of Fall. She grumbled at this, 'Cripes! I should've remembered about Fall,' she mentally berated herself as she hugged her chest, 'Next time we're out this late at night, wear some warm clothing for winter time.'

Suddenly, she felt something light cover her shoulders as she turned to her left. She saw Justin, walking alongside her, and he had draped on her shoulders, his green jacket to keep her warm as he smirked, "Sorry, Courtney," but then shined the light forward as he replied, "But you looked like you were shivering, so I thought the coat would be of some help."

Courtney was a little surprised by that as she slightly blushed, but made sure to turn away before he saw it. Then she casually replied, "Uh… thanks, Justin," and then cooled down a bit as her blush dissipated as she turned to him, giving him a small smile, "I really mean it."

"No prob," Justin shrugged as he sighed with a little boredom, "Sheesh, you'd think two helpless human teenagers out here on a full moon night would just beg a werewolf to show up."

A little surprised by that sudden moment of breaking the silence, Courtney nodded, "Yeah, you'd think that wolf would take a hint."

She sighed looking at Justin in puzzlement for a while now. No matter how hard she tried, the young Gothic Punk Wiccan found herself unable to figure out her first friend, and it just annoyed her beyond reason. She then looked at the bracelet watch on his right wrist, the Kinsmir-Blade, the only supernatural thing about Justin that gave him both protection and fighting power against anything that would go bump in the night. She even thought about the silver-haired, vampire fanged and werewolf eyed version of him every time it was activated. Despite his terrifying new attitude, she felt a strange comfort when he was near her… even when he was normal as well.

It was then and there that she mumbled out, "So… I guess girls like Lilith are your type of girlfriend?"

'Huh? Where'd that come from?' Justin thought, caught completely off guard as he looked at her confused, "What are you talking about?"

Courtney just shrugged as she tugged on the jacket tighter around her shoulders, "Well, you don't seem to complain whether or not a pretty girl like her throws herself at you," and then she grumbled, "Not like me anyways."

"Wait," Justin asked, seeming still as confused as ever, "You mean like when you hugged me back when we first met Lilith?"

Courtney grumbled, "No, I meant when you were unconscious after I threw you into a pillar in my Haunted Mask State." She then stopped as she slapped herself in the forehead, 'D'oh! I knew I shouldn't have blurted that out.'

Justin was a little startled by that, but then slightly blushed as he stopped in his tracks. "W-Wait. you mean you… well, I mean… you… glomped on me?" Justin asked, slightly embarrassed about her doing something that only Lilith would do.

Courtney blushed a little as her face reddened up a but, but then she turned away, "W-Well… I was just really worried about you back then." She then huffed a bit as she turned to look at him, still blushing and scowling at him, "I mean, you were pretty reckless stepping up to me like that! I mean, what would have happened if I had torn her arms off? Or worse!" she then huffed as she turned away, hiding away forming tears as she nearly spoke up in a choked up voice, "Did you ever consider your aunt's feelings if she found out her only nephew was dead? Alex? Elsa? Even Oogie?" and then gulped a little as she slipped out, "Or me for that matter?"

Justin was a little stunned by that last question. He didn't realize that she was that concerned for him, even back then. He then reached out for her as he asked and looking concerned, "Courtney…"

"Oh, just forget it, okay?" Courtney grumbled as she continued to walk forward, "We've gotta werewolf to find before it decides to go another teen maiden schmorgesboard." And then stormed off, leaving Oogie and Justin standing there looking confused. As she made good distance, she sighed as her shoulders slouched down, 'Great. I just blew up at him for no reason at all.' She then looked up at the sky, the stars glistening, despite the cloudy full moon sky, 'I mean, I've got nothing to worry about; Lilith's not gonna kill him. She's madly in love with him, I mean what girl wouldn't swoon over him,' and then she sighed sadly, 'And what guy wouldn't want to get glomped by her either. I mean, she's pretty, compared when she's got half the teen males drooling in the school after her.' she then had her eyes lowered to the slender form of her own body, a sudden feeling of regret just rushed through her gut, 'Or maybe… I'm just ugly… or just too scary or repulsive to look at,' she frowned at the thought, 'I am pretty much different from the toher girls he's been around at high school… or his whole life.'

She then grumbled as she shook her head, "Sheesh! Why do I even care? It's not like I care about him that way." She then released a pained sigh as she pulled the jacket close to her, and placed a hand on her chest, over her heart, "Why do I feel this way now? And why can't I just understand not only him… but this feeling?"

* * *

**Back with Justin**

* * *

"Why can't I understand what's going on with her, Oogie?" Justin asked the little boogey monster who was on his shoulder. He sighed as he looked to Oogie, "I mean, what was the sudden attitude change all of a sudden?" he sighed as he grumbled, "Though I'm not surprised, what with what's been going on lately in our lives," he then scratched the back of his head as he held the flashlight with the other hand, "I can't really blame her; being thrown in a business of monster hunting, and getting possessed by a Haunted Mask of sorts."

"Not to mention having Lilith as a love rival for ya," Oogie stated out as his tails whooshed in the air.

"Love rival?" Justin asked, "What are you talking about, Oogie?"

"Sheesh, Seyvont," Oogie grumped as he shook his head and looked to the boy, "I can't believe you're this dense when you know girls really care about you. And even more when it's probably more than just a friend."

"What do you mean?" Justin asking, trying to get the point across.

Oogie, getting a mischievous sparkle in his eye, turned to Justin as he asked, with them both catching up to Courtney, "Just out of curiosity… what do you think of Courtney?"

A little surprised by that, and not knowing where that came from, Justin shrugged as he truthfully stated, "Well, she's smart, stubborn, she somewhat seems a little lonely. Well, more like the lone wolf type. Convictive and a little defensive some of the time. And she's somewhat a little hotheaded most of the time… when it involves between her and Lilith."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Oogie stated as he wasn't interested in that stuff. "What I mean is, do you think she's pretty?" Oogie blurted out, getting a mischievous grin on his furry face.

Justin nearly went bug-eyed at that as he asked, "Wh-Why are you asking me that?"

"Just curious I guess," Oogie fibbed a little, knowing they were getting close to Courtney at this point.

Justin gulped a little, not sure that telling Courtney's 'Familiar' a little private information was such a good idea. Courtney was practically his only friend in the beginning. And the fact that saying something that would probably ruin it, was probably not the best idea to work on. However, he nearly gasped at Oogie's look in his face; he was leering in, smirking and blushing; almost looking like a complete perverted old man. Knowing that, and not noticing that he was now next to Courtney, who was also awaiting an answer from him, he decided to whisper his answer.

"Well," Justin began, not noticing Courtney looking at him, slightly blushing due to imagining what the answer would be. He sighed as he turned to Oogie, who was on his shoulder, and whispered, "She's no Priscilla, but to me, she's really…"

AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The three stopped as the interrogating conversation came to an abrupt end. Their target had finally found them as the three stood back to back, waiting for the werewolf to make the first move. The quietness of the area swept over them, causing their hands and skin to get all clammy.

Courtney gulped as she looked around, "Werewolf. Finally."

"There," Oogie pointed out towards the blackened forest.

Courtney looked in that direction and asked, "What? Where?"

Oogie sighed as he answered, still pointing still in the darkened forest, "There Wolf," and then pointed to the swamp, "There… Swamp."

The two teens looked to each other, confused at that, ignoring the faint wolf howling. Justin looked to Oogie as he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why are you talking like that?"

"I thought you wanted me to," Oogie asked, acting all innocent.

"No! We don't," Courtney shot out, getting a little peeved at the joke that her fuzzy familiar had shot out.

Oogie just shrugged as the silence was cut with him muttering with a struggling smirk, "Suit yerselves. I'm easy."

Suddenly, the silence was broken as there was a crunch of dry leaves and twigs being crushed under a foot. When the sound got closer to them, in front of them, the two sprung into a defensive stance. "Who's there?!" Courtney growled. "Come any closer and we'll kill you!"

"Nice to see you too, my Dark Princess," Leon retorted as he appeared from the trees in front of them and stood from the battle-ready duo and boogey creature on Courtney's shoulder. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting to long," he then flashed her a bright smile as he gave a cheesy pickup line, "Miss me?"

"Like I miss the Chicken Pox," Courtney grumbled at Leon.

Leon blinked then playfully scowled. "You don't have to get hostile," he replied.

It was just then, under Justin's suspicions, looked to Leon and interrogated, "What are you doing here, Leon?"

"I should ask you the same question," Leon stated as he walked closer to them, "didn't you know there's a werewolf out here?"

"Stop, Leon!" Courtney shouted both her and Justin backing away from Leon as he came closer. "Justin asked you," Courtney shouted, "What… are you doing out here?"

A little startled by the shout, Leon remained cooled and composed. He raised his hands up calmly as he held them in front, showing he wasn't going to pull a fast one on them. He then slowly walked towards them as he calmly stated, "Look. I don't know what you guys are doing out here, but hear me out,"

The others slowly backed away from him as he still approached them, unaware that the red hooded fellow was still in the trees, now taking aim at Leon in particular. And in the stranger's hands was what appeared to be an iron and wooden gas powered rifle crossbow with the mechanical aspects of a tommy gun. The figure looked into a sniper lens, taking careful aim at both Leon's heart and head. Their finger was steady on the trigger as the stranger took careful aim, ready for the kill.

"Look, stop looking at me like that," Leon stated, not liking the paranoid looks the two were giving him at this point.

"Then answer the question," Justin demanded, "What are you doing out here?"

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRW!

Something roared right behind Leon as Courtney and Justin nearly jumped along with the teen in front of them. Leon jumped back to the two as, after a few minutes of silence after the roar, a massive shape pounced right in front of them. but what they saw, nearly had them pee in their pants at this point.

In front of them, was an 8.5 foot werewolf, its body built for muscle, but its legs built for speed. It was also most unusual considering its fur was colored jet black, but its underbelly, forearms, muzzle and tail tips were colored white. But this werewolf wasn't any ordinary one you'd find in the movies… this one was way different. Unlike most werewolves that were in stories, or the illustration that Courtney had found in the Book, this one's physical structures were completely off. It had three fingers on each hand, and a second pair of arms on its back, jutting out like insect arms, resembling General Grievous in some way. On its hind foot, the big claw was much bigger, almost to the size of three clawed toes combined into on bigger toe. It even had two tails as well, but the oddest thing was its lower jaw, split down the center to resemble a pair of mandibles.

But what it looked like didn't really matter at this point. What really mattered to Justin and Courtney at this point, was that now in front of them, was the Werewolf of Fever Swamp… and it was drooling because it was hungry.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Curser… or Cursed pt.4**

* * *

Now... Profile Bonus:

**Name:** Oogie (possibly older than Stranger)

**Age:** Unknown

**Fur**: Black and Purple

**Eye**: Black and shining

**Likes:** Lint, sleeping under the bed, Lint, Courtney and Max… and Lint

**Dislikes:** Losing lint, getting thrown into scary situations (which for him is most of the time on a monster-hunting expedition)

**Family:** Unknown, currently with Courtney's; but unknown to Mrs. Keller

**Background**: Not much is known about the little critter named Oogie. But one thing was certain: He didn't come from the Book. He was the little Boggart, or Boogey Monster that was hiding in Courtney's room when she and her family moved into their house. He was easily lured out of his hiding spot in broad daylight due to his hankering for Lint, a Boogey Monster's chocolate if you will.

Courtney was the one who welcomed to stay with her in her family's home, which is also a way for someone to keep a Boggart. Due to this, Oogie has great admiration and is fiercely loyal towards Courtney, but is not above using her sometimes to try and make a fast Makai buck.

Aside from Negi he has also formed a friendship with Zazie's sister, Arte, later on. However, it's only as a babysitter and torture toy, so the friendship's a little strained at first.

Chamo often acts as Courtney's trusty advisor in most things, though there are times his judgement and/or advice leaves much to be desired.

He normally suffers either Justin's Elsa's wrath whenever his schemes are discovered or he is caught in one of his perverted acts (such as undressing the girls, stealing their underwear, or tricking them into wearing sexy lingerie). In the case of Courtney, he also suffers her wrath whenever he says or does something that earns her ire, leading him to shout to the effect of "Animal Abuse!"

His level of power among the group is not as great as most of the teens shown in the story, though he has shown some considerable morphing capability whenever Courtney's magic fails at times, chief among them is shapeshifting into a breastplate for her protection, which is essential considering she can't regenerate from fatal attacks. He also has the disturbing hobby of keeping track of the girls' feelings for Justin, often to the chagrin of all involved.

In the story, also like Alex, he too provides some occasional comic relief aside from his knowledge of other monstric beasts.

**Personality:** Oogie is somewhat a little bit of a chicken to monsters bigger than him… which is most of the time. Later on, as he sees the love-triangle of Justin, Courtney, and Lilith, he just can't help himself from being a little perverted in the process. However, he does care for the kids a lot, considering they don't try to stomp, spear, or even kill him, unlike the rest of the monsters in the human world, the Makai, or the Darkness Dimension.

**Powers**: Oogie, like all boogey monsters, can transform himself into whatever a person is most afraid of. He is also noted to transform into an uber version of himself; gaining more terrifying monstrous features as well as a scary and angered personality while enraged. His claws are able to grip anything: pads on his feet and paws contain a sticky substance allowing him to adhere to almost any surface and scale buildings and walls. His skeletal system is very flexible, allowing him to put his feet into his mouth and become a rolling ball/buzzsaw, while his legs are powerful enough to enable him to jump several feet into the air.

He is also quite good at analyzing individual strength and character, and puts them in good use during times of need (such as seeking advice from Stranger or caming up "party formation" for the Nightbumper's support).

**Concept:** Oogie is actually inspired from Stitch, from Lilo and Stitch; cute and fluffy design wise. While attitude wise, is Chamo-concepted.


	16. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt4

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 15: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Cursor… or Cursed pt.4**

* * *

**Back in the Swamp**

* * *

The uber werewolf let out a small growl in the back of its throat as it looked at the three teenagers. It smirked as it flexed its claws in anticipation; a small group of drool drips started to trickle down its muzzle as it picked up the scent of fresh meat in the area. The hairs on its back mane spiked up, almost on the verge of growling viciously, preparing to pounce on the late night snacks that had wandered in foolishly in its territory. It slowly inched towards them, the claws on its feet snapping on the dead leaves, roots, and vines on the ground as it slowly walked towards the teens, savoring the tastes yet to come.

The tree teens, and one hiding Oogie behind Justin's back, stepped back a little as the beast made its way towards them. Courtney, remembering that they had a mission to accomplish, snapped out of her fear, 'What am I doing? We came all this way to catch this thing!' she looked at the wolf with a hardened determination, and then brought up her right hand… and stopped as she paled at what she was gonna do, 'What am I thinking? Leon's here, we can't let him see this! He'll freak out!'

However, she had to do something, and she remembered what Justin had given her. She dug into her skirt pocket and felt the mace in it, and smirked, "This should do the trick," and then surprising the three boys, ran towards the wolf.

Leon and Justin both paled at this as they shouted in unison, "Courtney, No!"

Oogie paled as he whispered in a squeaky tone, "What is she doing? Is she nuts?"

The uber werewolf saw the girl running towards him, and it smirked evilly as it ran straight at her. Considering how fast the beast was, Courtney knew it wouldn't be much to push her speed up any bit. She skidded to a halt as soon as the Werewolf was close enough. She snapped her right hand's fingers, sparking a flame with her powers, and lit the mace can.

The Uber Werewolf then lunged right at her, opening its mandible jaws open as it prepared to bite off Courtney's head. However, at the last second, she shouted, "Bite this!" and lit the mace can up as she threw it in its mouth.

And then, with her left eye glowing flame color for a split second, tiny flaming explosions erupted under her feet as she leaned to the left. This caused her to shoot straight in that direction like a rocket as she crashed to the ground, sliding on it as she stopped on her side, looking back at the werewolf as the mace finally exploded in its mouth.

The beast was foaming at the mouth; the mixture of silver nitrate and wolfsbane making a lethal concoction in the werewolf's mouth. It foamed and fizzled, acting like hydrochloric acid, burning his mouth instead of melting it. The intense pain was mind breaking as the werewolf screamed and howled in agony. Its mouth foaming of the strange concoction as it stumbled and shook its head in agony, completely ignoring Courtney as she took out her silver steak and charged forward.

Justin saw it too, and running past Leon, he took out his own silver steak as he charged forward and shouted, "Eat this, Dog Boy!"

Just as the werewolf finally spat out the last of the mace foam, it was too late for it to act. Charging forward to it, both Courtney and Justin stopped as their steak tips shot out and they jabbed the silver steaks right into its chest. The werewolf howled out in excruciating pain at the silver penetrating its body. The area of flesh to where the steaks were sticking out of were sizzling, like the werewolf's flesh was placed on a grill and sizzling, burning off the fat. The werewolf was in so much pain, it howled out, flailing its arms around, swiping at anything that was moving.

Courtney and Justin stepped back to stay clear of the creature's enraged rampage. Unfortunately, Justin was caught by one of the swipes, and sent hurled into the forest, and straight into a tree. Courtney looked at seeing Justin being swatted away like a love bug so easily. She paled as she shouted in worry and shock, "Ah… JUSTIN!" But she saw him slump to the ground, with a groan escaping his lips as he only had the wind knocked out of him.

She sighed in relief, knowing that he was okay, but then looked to the werewolf as the howling finally died out. The Werewolf, despite the agonizing pain it was suffering from the silver, grabbed the stakes, and slowly pulled them out of his chest. The beast growled at the confounding and cursed objects, probably scarcely believing such things could actually hurt it. It then let out a monstrous deep-throat growl as it knew where to direct its anger to now the only one who stuck one of those horrid silver steaks into its chest.

It turned sharply and directly at Courtney, only to get a face full of flame. It howled as it used two of its hands to swat away the flames and swinging its face around to kill the flames even faster. The flames finally died out as its face was slightly scorched from the small flame ball attack; there were just tiny scorched of charcoal fur patched on to its face. Its growl deepened and gained volume as its eyes burned with rage at the one who threw that flame ball at his face. He turned towards the girl, but then its rage dissipated as soon as it saw the girl.

She was standing battle ready, her shoulders slouching upward and her hands spread out to her sides. Her left eye was glowing a flame color as the tip at the end of her eye was whipping with a small flame tail. Then suddenly as she clenched her fists, they were writhed in flame as she looked at the werewolf dangerously. She then growled in anticipation of the upcoming fight, as she snarled at the wolf, "It's time to put you back where you belong, Wolfie!"

And then she shot out her left hand right at it, shooting out a massive flame throwing fire blast right at the wolf. It hit him directly, charring its fur slightly as it howled in pain. As soon as the flame died down, the beast's fur looked scorched and darkened, but madder than ever as it growled and roared at her… shouting, "NEVER!" and then lunged right at her.

Luckily she used her right hand to fire a rocket blast that sent her shooting the other direction, making sure that the werewolf missed her. It landed to where Courtney was once standing as it was on all fours, or on this case sixes, and then turned sharply to her in anticipation of the next move. It then growled in a deep, menacing male voice as surprisingly… it spoke, "NEVER!"

Courtney nearly paled at this, but kept her flames ablaze as she whispered to herself in disbelief, "It can talk?"

Then the werewolf charged toward her once again, this time on all of its paws. Courtney gritted her teeth together as she threw at least four flame spheres at it, in an attempt to cripple it as it was running at full speed. The werewolf saw the blasts but then dodged them easily; its speed making it quite an advantage against the Fire Wiccan in this battle. Courtney paled at this beast's burst of speed, until he was standing right in front of her.

Courtney nearly froze in place due to fear griping at this unforeseen turn of events. The Werewolf then raised all four of its arms as it snarled at her, "GIVE… ME… THE BOOK!"

Then suddenly, Justin popped up, coming at the werewolf in blinding speed. The Kinsmir-Blade had activated on its own, the armor on the boy present as well as the silver hair, vampire fangs and werewolf eyes evident on such a thing happening. At such a blinding speed due to his sprint, he jumped forward, and roundhouse kicked the werewolf, sending the beastie flying into a tree. The kick was powerful enough to halfway breaking it in half as the beast slumped a little, leaving an imprint of itself to where the tree was broken at.

Justin landed back on his feet in a crouching position as he looked to Courtney, still standing and a little stunned at what just happened. He got back up standing in front of her, as he smirked and winked, "Am I your hero… or what?"

Courtney, for a moment was happy, but then after hearing a cheesy pickup line like Leon would give her, she groaned. 'Great, his personality's all mixed up again,' Courtney groaned in her head, but then smirked at him as she reached out and grabbed his jacket, 'But either way… I'm just glad it's him.' She stood up and walked over to him as she handed him his jacket, smiling at him, "You have no idea how happy I am to see you at this point."

Justin smirked at that as he answered, "Happy enough to let me rip off the werewolf's head off? Sending him back to the book?"

"Hold up," Courtney stated as her hands lit up with powerful flames yet again as she held one hand up, "We make him talk to where he's got Chelsea… then we'll rip his head off and send him back in the book."

Justin smirked as he flexed his right clawed gauntlet, "Sounds good to me."

Then the two turned around to see to where the werewolf was willing to talk or not. However, their expression went from anticipation to confusion as they saw to where the werewolf was supposed to be at. Instead, all they saw was an empty area to where the werewolf had gone to. It seems that in their moment of reconciliation, the werewolf had regained consciousness and quietly and speed fully, made its getaway before the two could really dish out some damage. It was also clearly evident that the wolf was still out there, as it made a huge howling in the distance.

The two teens sighed at this, knowing full well they let their best chance to get it. Justin groaned as he ran his fingers through his hair, clearing away any sweat in it, "Perfect. We let it get away. Now how are we gonna find it?"

Oogie, who had caught up with them, jumped on to Courtney's shoulder as she sighed. She shook her head as the flames on her hands poofed out as she looked to them both, "I… have no idea," she then looked to Oogie with hope in her eyes as she asked, "I don't suppose you can track it by scent, Oogie?"

Oogie frowned as he crossed his arms, feeling insulted like that, "Do I look like I'm part bloodhound here, girl?"

Courtney then looked to Justin, a little hopeful as he shrugged truthfully, "Sorry, for two reasons: One, my nose isn't that powerful from what I know. And Two, I don't even have anything to smell him by."

"I could sniff him out," Leon finally coaxed out, as he stepped forward.

The two looked at Leon for a moment in disbelief, but then remembered another very important detail that needed to be taken care of. Aside from figuring out what or why Leon was here, Justin was still in his Kinsmir Armor, as well as silver hairdo at this point. Making sure the truth wasn't out about them; Courtney nervously chuckled as she pushed Justin away, with him all confused, as she tried to make up an excuse.

"Uh, really? Eheheheh…. Hehehehehehehehhehehe," Courtney fumbled, feeling nervous at this point, knowing that their secret was out. She then giggled nervously shooing at this scene, "Oh, and forget when you saw Justin… what with the armor, the silver hair, the strange black and purple critter on my shoulder…"

"Or the fact that your hands were aflame?" Leon asked as he inquired, even looking at her with his arms crossed. Courtney was even more freaked out by this; even Justin was as soon as he popped up. Both of them, including Oogie, were standing there. Their jaws dropped down and their faces paling at this as Leon reassured them, "Relax, you guys are in the clear," he then walked towards where the werewolf was last spotted as he knelt down next to the shattered tree, "And besides, tracking that werewolf's gotten a lot easier for me to deal with."

Both looking slightly confused by that, they immediately ran over to him and stopped. Courtney knelt next to him as she interrogated, "Wait a minute! Just what do you mean tracking the werewolf? And why the heck are you so calm about seeing me throwing flames, seeing Oogie, or even noticing Justin with vampire fangs and wearing some bizarre silver body armor?"

"I think I know," Justin answered, crossing his arms, and his nose crinkling as he exposed his right fang. His eyes narrowed as his nose crinkled from taking a scent of his own, "Because our four-armed werewolf isn't the only one who suffers from Lycanthrope."

Courtney looked confused by that, but then turned towards Leon who stood up now. She stood up as well as he started to chuckled a little, and then looked to Courtney, "He's pretty much right about that last part," and then flashed to Courtney a bright sparkling smile as he gave Courtney a charming smile, "I'm… a full-blooded werewolf."

After hearing that, Courtney jumped back as her hands flamed back on as she growled, "Then you're in cahoots with that uber wolf that attacked us!"

It was just then Leon was blushing like crazy at her as he was suddenly up at her. He then nuzzled his cheek to hers, catching her off guard as he spoke to her in a dreamy daze, "You know I can't resist it when you're all fired up like that, my Black Nightingale."

Just then, Courtney shoved him away as she growled, "Sheesh! Even as a werewolf, you're still a beast, either way!"

Oogie, who was perched on her shoulder, "I can tell this is gonna be a fun evening."

* * *

**Later On**

**Oil Rig**

* * *

Elsewhere, the old Oil Rig to which had transformed the beautiful Fever Swamp into the wasteland that it was, stood in the blackened day of night. It was big and massive, stretching up to probably around the size of a school building. The pumps stayed rusted in place with vines and cobwebs covered the pumps and pipes, adding to the eeriness of the area. The building looked like a shadowed haunted house, adding to the frightened appearance to what was probably the lair to the werewolves of the legend. It looked like a haunted house, being shined in by the full moon's light as two figures moved around it, trying to figure out something out of it or about it.

Standing in front of the building, almost near the back way, were Lilith and Elsa. The two had already finished their forensic search of the whole area; Elsa on the sides and on the ground, while Lilith took to the air trying to find any way from inside, but noting a few shy holes in the roofs. From all the angles that they've looked at, the only area that they could estimate from getting out of was practically the roof itself.

Elsa stood in front of the building with her arms crossed, looking at the front door. She was considering on smashing the door down, but put that thought away for later. She then sighed in defeat as she asked aloud, "This place looks like a werewolf would feel comfortable to live in," and then turned to look at Lilith to get a second opinion as she asked, "So how to we…?" but then stopped as she saw Lilith all depressed and sighing, her head hung down hiding her loneliness, "Um… what's wrong, Lil'?"

Lilith sighed, sounding vastly depressed as she clasped her hands together, "H'oooh, it's just not fair," she then looked up at the moon, trying to look as dramatic as possible as she stated out, "Courtney gets to spend time with Justin, and it's just us girls." After hearing that, Elsa nearly face-vaulted to the ground as Lilith, comically, flailed her arms around and wept, "It's not fair! Courtney's so mean! So very, very, very mean! Courtney, you dummy! That gothic dummy, dummy, dummy! I wanna go with Justin! I wanna! He's my Destined Mate after all!"

After getting back up, Elsa witness the spoiled girl's tantrum heartbreak, and sighed as she sweatdropped, "She's such a spoiled girl."

"I'll say."

The two turned around sharply as they saw where the voice came from. Standing right behind them, five feet away from them, and their friends stood out of the darkened forest. Courtney was in the middle, with Oogie on her shoulder, as she crossed her arms, frowning at her friend's temper tantrum. Oogie seemed to take amusement in this little argument, smirked at this while stifling a giggle or two. Justin, still in his transformed state, had his hand on his hip, and scratching his head with the other hand, looking away, blushing at this awkwardness. And surprising the two girls, Leon was also there, but was crouched on the ground… sniffing.

However, Lilith immediately sprouted out her wings, and flew straight at Justin, startling her. She tacked him to the ground as she glomped all over him, rubbing cheek to cheek as she cooed, "Oh, Justin, my darling!" She then finally got up, but only on top of his stomach as she knelt down to him and looked at him, blushing, "we're back together again," and then, like she did today, she leaned in close to attempt another kiss.

SMECK!

Lilith smiled in her kiss, knowing that she had kissed her love… finally. That is until she opened her eyes, and saw… that she had kissed Oogie's cheek once again. The little Boogey Monster was pulled in by Justin, who had shot out a metallic silver tentacle with three pronged fingers holding the little fellow in place. After realizing this, and going all bug-eyed, Lilith jumped back on her feet as she spat out in disgust, and whined, "Oooooh, come on, Justin! Why do you have to be so shy around me?"

Justin finally got up, mumbling, "It's not because I'm shy…" and then put Oogie down as the tentacle retracted back into the armor.

Oogie groaned as he rubbed his check with disgust, "Why me? Why am I the one to get kissed by her?"

Courtney then suddenly rushed up to Lilith, blushing like crazy and mad at what just happened as she yelled out in her face, "LILITH, WITH YOU GET YOUR HORMONES IN CHECK ALREADY? The last thing we need right now is you getting all smoochy around him at this point!"

Lilith gained a conniving smirk as she jabbed in, "Oooh, well I'm not gonna let you have Justin all by yourself," and then rubbed the salt in, "After all, I'm pretty sure the way you're acting… you've definitely fallen for him… just like I have."

This caused Courtney to finally explode crimson as she shouted, "WHAT? Will you stop accusing me of that! Justin's my friend; I don't see him like that!"

Justin then pushed the two apart as he grumbled, "If we're done already," and then pointed to Leon as he was heading towards the abandoned Oil Rig, "Leon's already picked up the scent of the Uber Werewolf."

As the others ran after him, they failed to notice that the red hooded stranger followed them in the trees. And still unaware by her, another figure was moving towards the Oil Rig at the other side, going undetected by either side at all as it snuck into the factory.

* * *

**Inside**

* * *

After careful thinking and planning, they got in through the roof, and made their way to the holes. Once there, Lilith let them down on the ground one by one with her wings. Except for Justin and Leon, whom had decided to just jump down and land on their feet with the grace of canines. Surprisingly, due to Justin's newfound powers and Leon' apparent residulence, proving that he was a werewolf; they both were unharmed as they landed feat first in a crouched position on the ground. As soon as they were on the ground, they looked around to see a darkened area, with only moonlight in some key areas.

The kids looked around, trying to find their way out of this darkened room. But so far, there was no avail to any of this as the whole place was pitch-black at this point. Nothing could be seen as the two looked around, hoping for some remnance of the uber werewolf's presence. Justin sighed, "Great, now how are we supposed to find it?"

Courtney thought about it for a moment, and then smirked as she snapped her fingers, "Leave that to me." She then clapped her hands together, and pulling them apart two balls of flames. Then suddenly, she shot two separate shots that stretched and snaked all around the room, lighting up the entire area. There, the kids had a much frightful and amazed discovery that they were witnessing in disbelief.

* * *

**Next Chapter: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Cursor… or Cursed pt.5**

* * *

**Name:** Lilith A.(Aensland) Morrigan

**Age:** 15 (chronologically 300 years old)

**Hair**: Light Green

**Eyes**: Pinkish Ruby Red

**Likes**: Sweets, Justin, Romance Novels, Plain Cheese Pizza (sometimes with chocolate Oreos on it in place of pepperoni), Having Friends

**Dislikes**: Having to lose to Courtney sometimes; Being Alone as well; Having to use her Succubi powers to enslave friends of her own; Justin falling for Courtney (which would break her heart)

**Family**: Agehah (Queen and Mother); Belial (King and Father)

**Background:** She is the daughter of Agehah and Belial, two of the rulers of the Makai, or "Demon World". She became head of the Aensland family after the death of Belial.

The Succubus race has lived approximately 400 years. Roughly ten years after they are born, they gain their adult appearance and retain this beautiful form even when they are old and dying. Over the past several hundred years, their ability to reproduce has been in danger. The amount of spirit that can be taken from an individual is limited. Their search for new dreams have caused them to reach into the human world. But it is becoming more and more difficult to acquire a good amount of nutrition.

For this reason, Lilith seeks out her 'Mate of Fate', her destined other, in order to rebuild the Succubi Line. It was then that she was drawn to a hgue resivoir of necro energy (The Book being read and unleashing the monsters in prisoned in there) and came to Amityville to investigate. But when she arrived, she saw that the high school had such bountiful young males to be her Chosen Mate.

However, she chose Justin as the one to start the chain events that would make her desireable. Unfortunately, his will and friendship to Courtney breaks her control on him. This causes her to go in a frenzy, however Justin's new powers and Courtney's mercy, she becomes friends with them, and deems Justin as her destined Chosen Mate. With her added Flight and Illusion based powrs, Lilith is a much weclomed addition to the group. Although she does not tell them, she is actually the Princess of the Makai, to which if she told them would probably see her as more of a snob, which to why she won't tell them… for a while.

**Personality**: Described as a tough character, she is actually pretty sweet and possessive, especially around Justin. An often running gag is she glomps on Justin, licks his nose, or uses any feminine charm in the book to seduce him, which, more often than not, makes his nose bleed and causes him to suffocate. She also uses love potions in sweets to secure his affections, Also no matter where they are, she intereferes any tender moments with Justin and Courtney, often by appearing when less expected.

While she does continue to tease and try to seduce Justin it is clear that she possesses true and honest feelings for him-she's been shown to be willing to risk her life for him numerous times throughout the story. She also views Courtney as a close friend as well as a rival in love.

Elsa and Leon are also two friends who are also powerful allies as well. Alex, she likes how he captures his good side when taking photographs, plus he manages to squeeze out a few jokes that makes her laugh. And Oogie, who is somewhat of a pervert later on, attempts to help her in matters to gain Justin as her mate.

**Powers:** Lilith sports a pair of bat wings, tail, batwing-shaped ears on her head, and razor-sharp nails in her true form, and has notable strength (seen when carrying people during flight, and slicing trees in half). The use of illusions and reality-bending techniques make up for her lack of combat abilities, plus she also carries a unique, innate sense of knowing when danger might occur Lilith is a succubus of the Makai, or Demon World. She is an amazingly powerful succubus to boot, aside from not being as strong or fast as the others. As a succubus, she possesses a pair of wings which enable her to fly up to speeds in the air, making her pretty good, but not as fast as Justin. Her prehensile tail is like a third arm for her in some ways. But her most powerful aspects are her Allure charm, ensnaring any man as her unquestioned slave.

And as an added power, her use of illusions and reality-bending techniques make her, next to Courtney, Elsa, Justin, and Leon, the most feared one in the group. Her illusions are somewhat realistic, able to mask her and her teammates from sight and her reality-bending abilities allow her to morph her tail and wings into able-killing tools, as well as her surroundings.

**Concept:** The idea came from Kurumu from Rosario to Vampire, but also a mixture of Lilith's physical body with Morrigan's hair and innocent behavior.


	17. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt 5

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 16: Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Cursor… or Cursed pt. 3**

* * *

**Night**

**Abandoned Oil Rig**

* * *

After careful thinking and planning, they got in through the roof, and made their way to the holes. Once there, Lilith let them down on the ground one by one with her wings. Except for Justin and Leon, whom had decided to just jump down and land on their feet with the grace of canines. Surprisingly, due to Justin's newfound powers and Leon' apparent residulence, proving that he was a werewolf; they both were unharmed as they landed feat first in a crouched position on the ground. As soon as they were on the ground, they looked around to see a darkened area, with only moonlight in some key areas.

The kids looked around, trying to find their way out of this darkened room. But so far, there was no avail to any of this as the whole place was pitch-black at this point. Nothing could be seen as the two looked around, hoping for some remnance of the uber werewolf's presence.

Justin sighed, "Great, now how are we supposed to find it?"

Courtney thought about it for a moment, and then smirked as she snapped her fingers, "Leave that to me."

She then clapped her hands together, and pulling them apart two balls of flames. Then suddenly, she shot two separate shots that stretched and snaked all around the room, lighting up the entire area. There, the kids had a much frightful and amazed discovery that they were witnessing in disbelief.

Across the building's leeway, which was the factory pumping floor littered with pipes sticking out and into the building like an obstacle course, were werewolves. However, they were not in the mood to hack, slash, or disembowel the teen hunters, as they were all unconscious and strapped to operating tables. And connected to their arms were a sort of IV, but instead of feeding something to them through tubes, they were milking something out through the tubes. It was almost like a prison milk farm, but for what reason was what was going on through their heads at this point.

But before this could process any further thought, Leon ran down to one of the tables, holding a blonde werewolf of such rarity. He looked distraught as he asked, "Hey, you alright… Chelsea?"

This caught everyone by surprise as Courtney asked aloud, "Chelsea? You mean that wolf's the girl that went missing?"

Leon nodded as he began to rip off the straps as he answered, "Yeah, she is," he then went to the other side to get the other straps, "She's part of my clan that inhabit the town. She and a few others have been gone missing. So my clan elder ordered an immediate search party to find the others. It was actual luck that I decided to check out Fever Swamp," he then started to go for the IV, but his hand was suddenly stopped by a metallic clawed gauntlet with a topaz gem on it.

It was Justin, who was still in his Kinsmir form, who had stopped him as he snarled, "What the hell do you think you're doing? For all you know, this thing's what's keeping them alive!"

Leon snarled, almost letting his werewolf side awaken, but snapped back as he shouted, "Are you kidding me? Werewolves eat the Black Plague for breakfast! That alone means we don't get ill so easily," he then pointed to the IV as he shouted, "It's this thing that's making them ill!"

Courtney ran up to them, getting between the two before they had the chance to go for each other's necks. And from the tension the two former friends, they were close to it. She stepped in between them as she looked to Justin and Leon as she stated, "Guys, calm down already! We're here to stop an uber werewolf, not each other!" she then looked to Leon as she asked, "Leon. Do you have any idea who or what would do this?"

Leon shook his head as he looked to Courtney… and then blushed uncontrollably as he covered his mouth and shied away for a second muttering, "Oh, Courtney, my dark princess. You don't realize how irresistible you are when you take control."

Everyone just sweat dropped at that, including Courtney who slapped herself in the face as she groaned with her mouth muffled, "Somebody neuter this guy."

However, after realizing what he had just said, he snapped out of it as he became serious again, "I can't answer that kind of question," he then looked at Chelsea and the other wolves disheartedly, "I think the only one who can answer that is the Uber Werewolf."

* * *

**Back Outside**

* * *

Back outside in the rotting sewage that was Fever Swamp, Alex was sitting down, fiddling with his camera. So far he had been sitting in the comfort of the Cerberus's passenger seats. At the past moment, he was pretty much laid back considering he wasn't doing much searching, considering he was just a normal guy with a group of superhuman teens. He sighed as he took out an old film roll, "Man, this is boring," and then popped in a new roll of film into his camera, "You'd think at least I'd be attacked, considering I'm the less powerful of the group…"

CRASH!

The vehicle banged a bit as Alex jumped up from his seat as he saw something jump off the roof of the vehicle. He didn't get a good look at it, considering it was a little too fast… but it looked like it was part wolf from the look of it.

Alex gulped as he carefully got into the driver's seat, "Man… that thing was huge," he then started the truck, fighting against his better judgment as the engines started, "Looks like it's heading for the old Oil Rig," and then paled as he realized the dire situation, "That's where the others are right now!"

And without hesitation, and little understanding on how the vehicle worked, Alex drove after the creature. However… he needed to figure out how to work a truck's driving procedure. But even when the vehicle stopped and started, the red hooded figure who had been spying on Courtney and the group, had hopped aboard and waited patiently to get to the sight.

* * *

**Back in the Rig**

* * *

The teen team wasted no time, getting the werewolves free of their bonds. When they were freed, they were brought over to a section of the room to lie down next to one another. Whatever was used to knock them out was pretty strong; they were barely able to whine, whimper, or even move a muscle as they laid on the ground, looking more like sleeping puppies. The last one was Chelsea as she was being helped by Elsa and Leon, as they carefully carried her to the others.

As they carried her over to the others, Leon, who looked a little disheartened at seeing his clan members like this, asked in concern, "Hang in there, Chels. How you doin' so far?"

She couldn't talk at all, much less even try to respond with a human accent. All she could do was look at Leon with a sad puppy dog expression on her Lycan face, and whimper in both sadness and agony. Even as the two set her down gently as she laid down on her back, whimpering and moving slowly in pain as her face showed much pain.

Leon looked away as he tried to hide how he was feeling at this point, muttering, "They're immortal creatures, and now they're barely alive."

Lilith looked at them all carefully as she knelt down and examined one of the werewolves. She then looked to Courtney and the others as she stated, "They're pretty out of it, but they seem alright."

"Don't kid yourselves," Justin stated, his arms crossed and looked away as he looked to the boarded up doors, "They may not look like it, but they're in a buttload of pain at this point."

Courtney looked at the wolves, and then to Leon, who seemed to be taking it a bit harsh at this time. She then said aloud what a few of them were thinking, "I just wish we could've figured out what that Uber Wolf's doing."

Then Leon sneered at the tables as he growled, "If it were here, I'd be telling him my concerns…" and then flexed his hands as his fingernails started to crack a little, showing black tips of what appeared to be claws, "… and _not_ in a gentlemanly manner."

"Oh, really?"

Everyone, minus Justin who was looking in that direction, turned to see someone in the shadows. It was only a few seconds, but then the stranger stepped into the light. But then they were all slightly surprised by who they saw… there in the moonlight, standing in a pair of raggedy pants… was Professor Isaacs.

He sighed in a relaxed manner, even as he looked at the unconscious Lycans on the floor, as he just strode in, and spoke to them like a host to a party, "Well, good evening to you all," he then strode over to one of the tables as he began to fiddle with one of the Ivs, "I'm afraid I don't have any refreshment goodies, but the silverware's in the kitchen," he then took out a small flask as he filled it up with the strange fluid in the Ivs, "and I'm sure you'll find some drinks and heirlooms in the den… if you're here to rob _my _home," he then turned his attention towards the teens as he shot out, "Will you be needing anything else?"

But before Leon could go at him, Justin ran up in lightning speed. And out of the back of his armor, shot out his two metallic tentacles to wrap around him to hold him back. It was then that Courtney stepped up, looking miffed as Oogie was perched on her shoulder, looking like he was trying to act brave at least. She then stopped as she crossed her arms and demanded, "Yeah, Professor, if that's what you really are. Answers. What's really going on around here?"

"Why certainly, Ms. Keller," he then lifted his hand, holding the vile as he explained, "This is what's going on around here. Over sixty years ago, in London, I began the culmination of experiments to ensure mortals reach the next level of evolution. This serum, no, the Humor Devine, the mysteries of the Infinite, wrapped in a liquid in a one inch flask of glass… each vile imbued with a Werewolf's immortal essence!"

Leon then went bug-eyed as he snarled, "So that's it! You kidnapped half my pack, strip them down and strap them down, then stick needles and tubes in them like they were guinea pigs… JUST SO YOU COULD MILK THEIR ESSENCE?"

"Yeah, not that I don't mind the stripping the girls part," Oogie stated, which earned a glare from Courtney. He then cleared his throat as he pointed out to the Professor, "But aside from that, Professor, you can't steal a werewolf's immortality. It's nontransferable!"

The Professor merely scoffed a laugh as he looked to the Boggart, "You feeble-minded children. I had enough serum back in London to complete my research, right before I was caught by Mr. Stine and imprisoned in the Book. Before that, I was able to take the essence and mold it to my benefit, allowing me to shape the Lycan form into any shape or size that I wanted."

It was then that Courtney pieced it together as she stated, "It was you out there," she then pointed right at her as she deduced, "You're the Uber Werewolf!"

"Brilliant deduction, Ms. Keller. Give the girl a prize," Professor Isaacs sarcastically shot out, but then looked at the vile as he gritted his teeth, "It's true that by taking this vile, I've gained the Werewolf's strength, massive speed, and transformation… but I regret it can not give me the immortality I deserve," but then his face twisted into a calm yet frightening smile, "But there is something that can…" and then he looked to Courtney as he answered, "Something that, conveniently enough… lies in your backpack."

Courtney stepped back a little, looking a bit freaked out as she lowered her right hand. She snapped her finger as her hand was engulfed in flame, and she looked at Isaacs threateningly, "You're not getting the book."

Then Isaacs sighed as he answered, "So sad… for you," he then raised the vile in his hand, like he was proposing a toast, "Well then, here's to the kill," and then smirked devilishly, "Or should I say… breakfast?" and then he downed the essence into his system as he smirked, "Mr. Seyvont, I suggest you take a good look. The scientist in you is going to get goosebumps, as they say."

And then he howled and doubled over in pain, putting on a show as the teens watched. He then looked up to the teens as his eyes changed from human, to canine red and his teeth became sharp as canines. He then got on one knee as he clawed on the floor, breaking his nails off as sharp black claws grew in their place. The same thing happened on his feet as his toenails were replaced with black claws. He then growled and hollered in pain as he shouted in pain as his lower jaw began to split down the center, dripping a little blood. Then the sounds of bones started to crack or bend, as Isaacs' feet stretched a bit to resemble hind legs, as the main clawed toe grew bigger. His shoulders, legs, chest, every part of him was growing until he was reaching 8.5 feet in height, as well as in muscle. Then suddenly, he tore at his skin, pulling off, to revealing white fur underneath. Then his facial features changed as well as his ears grew in length, his muzzle jotted forward. Then suddenly, shooting out of his back, two twists of flesh shot out, and forming into an extra pair of arms, and out of his butt, two tails taking shape. Finally, the transformation was finished, as Isaacs got to his feet, and stood up for the teens to see him howl inhumanly into the night air, with his mandible jaw flexing out. He then looked to the teens as he growled with a vicious smile on his face, "Now… about that book… Ms. Keller…"

Courtney and the others gulped a bit at this sight, and she looked to Oogie, who was shaking like crazy, "Pretty scary, eh, Oogie?"

"Yeah, pretty much, Court," Oogie said as he zipped into the backpack, "I'll stay here until it's over."

It was then that Justin let Leon go as he flexed his claws, and shot out a samurai blade of sorts, attached to his right gauntlet. He then looked to Leon and asked with a fang grin, "Nervous… or scared?"

"Neither," Leon stated as he took something from his pocket: Wolfsbane. And then he plopped it into his mouth as he glared at Isaacs, "I'd rather die fighting, than see my clan be used in this guy's experiments again."

And then he too howled at the moonlight as his eyes went yellow and his teeth sharpened. He then ripped his shirt open as he howled even more; his bones cracking his muscles expanding, as he became more canine than man. His shoes exploded as they revealed the hind leg and canine feet beneath, as well as a bushy tail popping out. As his muscles stopped growing, he tore off his own skin as well, revealing the werewolf within. Finally, after he was done, he was a full-bodied 7.5 foot Brown Timberwolf; his whole body was covered in brown fur while his muzzle, chest and stomach, as well as the front and bottom of his hands and paws were crème brown. And unlike Isaacs, this werewolf still had his pants on.

Leon growled in his wolf form as he smirked at Justin, "Say, J-Man… seeing as how you know my secret and I know yours now… just so we don't have any hard feelings anymore…" and then pointed towards the Uber Werewolf as he smirked, "… want to make up for old times by tearing this guy inside out?"

Justin smirked by that as the tentacles retracted, and on his left gauntlet, it began to expand. And in a few seconds, a diamond shaped shield formed onto his gauntlet as he raised it defensively and brought his sword up, "Sounds like an alright plan, Pervy Wolf."

Isaacs growled as he flexed his arms and his four claws, "Bring it on, pups! I just had a few flask of werewolf essence; I can go all night if I wanted!"

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; New Girls in Town pt.1**


	18. Werewolf of Fever Swamp pt6

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 17: The Werewolf of Fever Swamp; Cursor… or Cursed pt.5**

* * *

**Back in the Oil Rig**

* * *

Isaacs ran towards the transformed Justin and Leon, as his jaw opened, unleashing a loud roar. It shook the building as the girls, who stood to protect the other werewolves. Leon, in his werewolf form, and Justin, in his Kinsmir form and armor with a blade and shield out, pounced towards the Uber Werewolf; their claws, fangs, and blades at the ready for this villain. Then the Uber wolf pounced right at them; the three slowly approached one another in the air, Matrix style, as the two were inches away from punching one another.

However, the good guys weren't the first to slam at this creature, as the Uber Wolf clobbered them both. Two fists for two opponents each, as they grabbed both Justin and Leon by the shoulders while still in the air. The Uber Wolf, having the most power and speed at this point, shoved them back, and when they crashed to the floor, the Uber Wolf rolled and threw the two straight into a few of the empty oil silos.

Courtney paled at this as she shouted in worry, "Justin! Leon!"

Lilith cupped her mouth in fear as she whispered, "Oh, Justin."

Oogie, who popped up from Courtney's book bag, poked a peak. He winched as he muttered, "That'll be a ten on the Smash-O-Meter."

The two smashed straight into the silos, making huge crater openings. Leon's left an imprint of him as he stayed stuck with his head slouched over as he groaned like a wolf would after a fight. Justin, however, stepped out of his dent, and landed on his feet on the ground.

He growled as he snarled at Isaacs, "So that's the best you've got?" he then brought up his right arm, showing the blade that got broke off, but then it grew back as he flexed his fingers into a fist, and smirked, "If so… then this'll be a short fight."

Isaacs, slightly stunned at first, smirked at this boy's arrogance, "How truly arrogant of you, Mr. Seyvont…" he then shot at the boy, with blinding speed, catching the boy off guard as he stopped in front of him, grabbing him by the wrists as he lifted him up in the air, "… and it'll cost you your life, boy."

Justin snarled a bit before he looked confused for a moment, but then smirked as he grinned, exposing his fangs, "Actually, it'll cost you a very severe burn, Professor."

Isaacs wondered what the boy was talking about, though not caring enough as he was about to snap his head off. When suddenly, he became distracted by a sizzling sound slowly making its presence known to them. Then a smell came along with the sound; the smell of flesh being cooked on a frying pan of sorts. Isaacs looked around, and then noticed a severe pain coming from the hands as he looked at where he held the boy… and saw his hands smoking as they were being scorched.

Immediately, he roared in pain as he threw Justin away from him as he held his hands out in pain, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" he then snarled as he looked at his hands; the palms of them smoking and sizzling as they slowly tried to heal themselves. He then snarled at where Justin was getting up, cracking his neck getting any kinks out, as Isaacs growled, "Silver? Your armor's made of silver?"

Courtney was amazed to hear that as she looked to her three friends and asked, "The Kinsmir's armor's made of silver?" she then looked to Lilith, being the only demon amongst them who probably knew more about the Demon Realm than anyone at this point, "Lilith? Did… did you ever hear anything about something like this?"

Lilith thought about it for a moment, but then it clicked into her head for a moment, "I heard about it once. It was said that the metal was constructed out of silver in order to ensure the power within the topaz gem would keep in check the awesome power that the Vampire and Lycan Patriarchs were within the gem," but then she thought for a second as she replied, "Now that I think about it, there was something else that kept that power in check."

However, their discussion was gonna have to be on hold as soon as they heard Isaacs growl again. This time, he ran straight towards the steel wall as he jumped up and used his sharpened claws to climb up the walls, jumping from wall to wall. And then finally, he pounced right at Justin at blinding speed; just as soon as Leon, who had woken back up, darted right next to Justin in order to go for round 2.

As the Uber Wolf howled, opening its maw up to bite at their heads, it also stretched out his arms to slice at them both. However, just when he was about to kill them both, Elsa appeared. Battle ready, armored up, and surprising even to Isaacs, wielding a hefty pipe in her hands, wielding it like it was a baseball bat. And as soon as he was in range, Elsa swatted him hard, straight into the ground; the very impact of such strength hitting the floor nearly shook the building to almost come crumbling down.

The two boys looked at each other in both amazement and embarrassment, in the fact that a girl had saved their butts before they could kick their butts. Elsa let go of the pipe, seeing that Isaacs wasn't getting up any time soon, and smirked, "Bu-Bye."

"Elsa," Courtney stated as she ran up to the team, with Lilith following behind as she asked, "I thought we were gonna stay behind to guard the werewolves."

Elsa had a surprised expression on her face, as she sheepishly smirked and scratched the back of her head as she shied away, "Oh! Eh, that… eheheheheheh. Sorry about that; I got a little… excited and wanted to help."

"Well, that was just reckless of you," Lilith stated as she crossed her arms and scolded Elsa.

Courtney nodded as she put her hands on her hips, "Amazingly enough, I agree with Lilith," groaning at that last part.

But then suddenly, Lilith zoomed up to blinding speed as she glomped on Justin. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and rubbed cheek-to-cheek with him. "I wanted to be the one to save my darling Justin," Lilith playfully whined at this, and gave both Elsa and Courtney the raspberry, "You two couldn't do much; you don't look as cool as these bad boys."

Courtney growled as she stomped over to Justin and Lilith, and grabbed on to Justin. She tried to pull him away from her as she berated, "Get your hands off him! We've got a job to do!"

Lilith groaned as she pulled as well, "We've already beaten the werewolf! Get away from…!"

Suddenly, they all heard the sound of metal being torn through, and turned to look back at the pipe. They saw it rumbling, being sucked inot the center to where Elsa had slammed Isaacs into the ground. It became even more violent as the pipe started to twist and turned; the ground to where Isaac was slammed into like a nail, and saw it cracking further as they heard a low and menacing growl then before.

As the kids looked at this, Oogie whimpered, "Whoa. For a fake-werewolf… he's pretty tough."

Then with an immense boom, Isaacs shot out of the ground, holding the two pieces of the pipes; both arms for two pieces. He then threw one of the pipe pieces right at them, causing the kids to scatter around the room. He then landed on the ground, his two right arms still holding the other piece of the pipe, as he spotted Courtney, on the ground, slowly getting up.

He growled as he slowly inched his way towards Courtney, not suspecting Elsa running towards him with her fists charged and ready to clobber him in the head. With a burst of electrical power, Elsa leapt into the air to hammer Isaacs into the ground again. Unfortunately, Isaacs saw the attack coming, and spun around to swat Elsa away, with little to no effort. She slammed into the wall, letting out a small whine as she slid to the ground on her butt.

Isaacs snarled as he was getting fed up with this, "Such annoyances…"

and then turned his attention towards Courtney as he dropped the pipe, and ran up to her before she could move. He then grabbed her by the throat as fast as he could; she struggled to break loose of his grip but to no avail. He then lifted her off her feet as his snarl grew even louder. He was then eye to eye as he growled; his saliva dripping from his mouth, "Give… me… THE BOOK!"

Before Courtney could answer, she smirked as she spoke through a nearly crushed throat, "Sorry… I don't have it."

The hairs on Isaacs' body stood on end as he hollered, "THEN WHERE IS IT?"

"She has it," Courtney answered as she pointed from behind Isaacs. The Uber wolf looked around him… and saw Courtney, with Oogie on her shoulder, boht looking like they were getting ready for an attack. Isaac looked confused by this, but then turned around at the girl he was holding. It looked like Courtney, but her clothing didn't match; finally, she transformed to reveal none other than Lilith, who smirked, "Gotcha."

Suddenly, her wings shot out of her mid-back, and then morphed into harpoon tendrils. They then shot into Isaacs, piercing into his flesh as they began to bleed, who howled in pain as he threw her away. However, the tendrils remained pierced into his sides as he attempted to pull them out, but to no avail. Lilith then used the tendrils to throw him into the air as they released him, when Isaacs was up and about in the air.

Lilith then shouted, "Now! Hit him hard and with everything we've got!"

Isaacs didn't know what was going on, but it was too late to see what was gonna hit him. Suddenly, Justin, still in his Kinsmir form with the wings out, shot right over him. The boy then balled his fists as two samurai sword blades shot out from under the side of his wrist. And then he ran them both through inot his chest, right at the nipples. Isaacs howled in pain, but Justin broke the blades off as he then flew and landed back on the ground, with Isaacs crashing down.

As Isaacs got back up, struggling to pull the silver blades out, Elsa suddenly shot forward into a powerful tackle into the ground. The glass diodes on her back charging up with electricity, bolting from them and into her neck bolts and the elbow diodes. She then profusely punched Isaacs in the face over and over with rigorous strength and effort. The massive power blows she continued to give Isaacs caused a crater to from around the two as she continued to deepen with every blow she punched into him. After she hand nearly punched ten feet into the ground, she grabbed a bloodied Isaacs by the maw and gave him one last blow to the left side of his face.

She then huffed and puffed as she growled through gritted teeth, "Had enough?"

Isaacs spat out a little blood, and possibly a tooth, as he looked to her and asked, with a snarl, "Is that the best you've got… corpse?"

Elsa took that personally as she gritted her teeth, and yelled out as her eyes filled with fury. She then prepared to punch him one more time, but her anger clouded her as she didn't expect what came next. Isaacs managed to get his foot freed, and kicked Elsa very powerfully into the wall out of the crater. Isaacs jumped out of the crater, fuming at this, still bleeding from the attacks he suffered as he looked around, trying to find Keller.

Suddenly, he was tackled by a still-transformed Leon tackled him. The two on all fours as they growled at each other for a split second, until Isaacs lunged at him with his claws, slashing at him. However, Leon blocked the advances with impressive blocks with his forearms. However, Leon broke the attack, and just grabbed Isaacs by the waist, pushing him towards one of the oil rigs machinery and slamming him into it, back first and very hard.

Justin saw this as he ran towards them, "Keep him pinned, Leon! I'm on my way," but suddenly, the Kinsmir's main topaz jewel, on the back of his right hand, began to blink slightly. Then finally, it made a beeping sound that got slower and lower until finally, it happened. The armor on Justin's body began to retract back; his hair and eyes returning to their natural color, until he was back to normal, and the bracelet was as well.

He stopped, back to normal human strength and speed, looking at the Kinsmir blade in its wrist chain form. He then grumbled at it, almost as if it could talk back, "You know… for something that looks like a watch… YOU'VE GOT A LOUSY SENSE OF TIMING!"

Isaacs broke free of Leon's grip, and punched him across the face with both fists. This left Leon a little distorted as Isaacs nail-droved a double fist in his shoulders. However, Leon just got back up and charged right at him. However, Isaacs pounced away, with Leon following as the two jumped on the walls, Leon chasing after Isaacs. Finally, Leon pounced right at him, and grabbed him by his back arms, pinning him in place as Isaacs struggled to break free. However, Leon began to pull hard on the right arm, and suddenly, pulled it off the limb. Isaacs howled in even greater pain at seeing his severed limb in Leon's hand; the stump on his back gushing out blood. Then Leon bashed him on the head for a while with his severed arm, until he bit Isaacs on the shoulder; the other howling in pain. Then Leon, still holding onto Isaacs by the teeth, threw him in the air.

Courtney then aimed right up at Isaacs, and in both her hands, formed a small ball of fire in her hands. A few seconds later, the ball began to get a little bit bigger, brighter… and even hotter as she kept her eyes on the target in the air. Oogie, noticing the build up of fire in her hands, went all bug-eyed as he stated, "Courtney! You can't keep budilng up fire like this! It's gonna overload and blow!"

"That's what I'm counting on," Courtney stated as her brow and hair became drippign with sweat, and the gloves on her hands began to burn up and turn to ash.

Finally, after building enough fire, the ball was around the size of a basketball. She then gritted her teeth, and threw the ball straight at the still-airborne Isaacs. The ball had the speed of a missile as it shot right at Isaacs, exploding on impact and engulfing Isaacs in a massive ball of flame. Isaacs let out one final howl of pain as he came crashing to the ground, and went as limp and dead as a doornail.

As the fire died down, the whole team walked around Isaacs charcoaled-colored body, being extra careful. The body wasn't moving at all, just laying limp there on the ground, smoking and crispy black. Oogie, being the one of voice there, sighed as he swept his brow, "And that's the end of that, kids."

They all sighed for a moment, until Courtney looked to Leon's way. Leon, still in his wolf form, saw Courtney look at him with a look of concern and worry. Leon smirked at this, and even more as he saw her running towards him. He saw that his strength and courage probably won her over as he opened his arms to her, "Ah, Courtney, my dark princess. Come into my arms…" but then she passed him altogether.

Instead, she ran to Justin as she looked him over, "Justin. You okay? I mean your armor just well… shut off."

Leon just slumped over, sweat dropping as he grumbled in defeat, "Darn it."

Oogie, who had jumped on to Elsa's shoulders, just shook his head as he grumbled, "Idiot."

Justin looked at his wrist chain and probably concluded, "Not sure about it. I guess it just… timed out."

Then suddenly, Isaacs, looking like a burnt newt, roared as it pounced right at Courtney and Justin. The two teens looked in horror as he went for them as he howled out, "GIVE… ME… THE BOOOOOOOOK!"

Before the others could charge to the rescue, something burst threw the oil rig's wall. It was the Cerberus as it zoomed right at Isaacs, hitting him as the Cerberus sped to the other end of the Oil Rig's wall. The Cerberus slammed the Uber Wolf into the wall behind him, smashing him like a sandwich in between the grill of the Cerberus and the steel wall, as he bellowed in pain and in frustration. He was pinned like a butterfly as he struggled to break loose, the added broken bones at his pelvic region was nearly shattered.

Leon and the others ran towards the truck as Justin entered through the back of the Cerberus. Courtney ran over to the front as she opened the driver's door. She saw Alex, pretty shaken up, but not much as he turned to her direction, and nervously smirked, "Sorry. It was murder finding my way here."

Courtney nodded, "Good to know. Just keep stepping on the gas," and looked to see Isaacs struggling to break loose. But Leon and Elsa ran up and grabbed his remaining arms to keep him in place.

The Uber Wolf continued to struggle as he howled and roared, unable to break loose. Then suddenly, Justin rushed out of the truck, and with him were two spring-loaded silver steaks. He then jumped up on the hood of the car's front as he took the two steaks, and looked to Isaacs, "Open wide, Prof. Isaacs."

He then stabbed them straight into the back of the Uber Wolf's head. Isaacs howled in pain as he screamed out in pain as he felt the silver burning him. Justin then pulled them as hard as he could, ripping at the flesh of the Uber wolf's skull. And then finally, he ripped off Isaacs's head as it bounced off the hood of the car and on the car. The head rolled a bit as it stopped at Lilith's feet, who freaked a bit as she saw the eyes turn towards her.

Then suddenly, the head and the body suddenly went ablaze in a silver fire. Leon and Elsa backed away as the body and the head began to burn down into silver dust, until it evaporated into a pale white mist. It then shot out straight towards Courtney's backpack to where the Book was kept and disappeared.

Courtney took the book out and opened it to see what happened. She then found the Uber Wolf's entry as she smirked, "Well, Prof. Isaacs, you may be a lousy teacher…" and then closed the book as she smirked at her friends in triumph, "But you do make a wonderful illustration."

As the gang were loading the other werewolves into the Cerberus, they didn't know that they were being watched by the Red Hooded figure. The figure carefully watched them for a moment, and then bolted out of there, completely unnoticed on the rooftop, and vanished without a trace.

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

* * *

The gang was altogether, even with the new teammate Leon, who sat at the table. For a while it was just quiet for them all, considering it was a long night of hunting monsters. But the other ones who were even more quiet was Justin and Leon; the former friends who were looking at one another, as if they were having a staring contest. Courtney looked a little worried about this, not just because of Justin's armor timing out like that unexpectedly, but because of how the two were now that the fight was over. It was pretty evident that the two were gonna duke it out.

Justin broke the silence as he asked, "So… you're a werewolf, eh?" he then scratched the back of his head as he sighed, "So I'm guessing that was the reason why you left for Hawaii back then?"

"Yeah, you see there's this training ground in Hawaii that all new pups have to go for training," Leon stated as he leaned back, "Afterwards when I came back, I just had to shut all contact from all other mortals. You know, because of the whole 'Feral' instincts and all."

The two were once again silent for a few minutes until Justin asked, "So… we cool again?"

Leon looked surprised at this point; Justin was willing to patch up an old friendship once again. Leon smirked as he held out his hand, "Frosty," and the two shook on it; their friendship was once again restored.

Elsa smirked at this as she stood up, "You guys made up! That's great," she then looked to everyone as she smiled, "We should all have a group hug!"

The room was silent for a second, until Courtney, being her usual gloomy self, sighed and groaned, "Pass on that."

Justin stretched for a moment, as he groaned from last night, "Sheesh! I gotta admit that fake wolf put up a big fight," he groaned a little more as he sighed, "I just hope the other monsters we hunt aren't as tough as that one," suddenly, he felt hands on his shoulders as they gently rubbed them, confusing him immensely as he looked up to see Lilith, rubbing his shoulders.

Going bug-eyed in confusion and shock, he asked, "Lilith? What are you doing?"

Lilith merely smirked at him all lovey-dovey, "Giving you a neck rub, Justin, my darling. You seem a little tense," she then turned away as she tearfully smiled, 'The Love-Potion cookies were a complete failure! I lost them during the hunt yesterday… and the fact that Alex ran over them as well. But rubbing his shoulders is complete bliss for me!'

However, Courtney ran up to them and pushed Lilith aside. She was fuming as she shot out, "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?"

Lilith got back up and ran over to Courtney, spewing out, "I'm helping him out, Courtney! I don't see you trying to comfort him!" she then smirked schemingly, "Unless… you're getting jealous of us."

Courtney then had a vein pop on her neck as she grabbed Lilith by her arms, as she did too, and they both shook each other like crazy.

Leon looked at Courtney envious as he bit his coat, "Justin! You won't win in this game of the hearts!" he then shot up as he declared, "I make myself a part of this team, not just to help in the retrieval of these beasts… but to win my fair dark princess's hand!"

"I'M NOT YOUR FAIR ANYTHING, BUSTER!" Courtney shot out, and then went back to the fight.

Leon slumped over as Oogie smirked at this, "Ya gotta love the drama here."

Alex sighed in annoyance as he cleaned his camera, and Elsa just sighed as she smiled, "I'm so glad that I don't have boys fighting over me like this."

* * *

**Outside**

* * *

There standing on the top walkway of the building next door to the Halloween store, was the strange red hooded figure. There was a small moment of silence, until the figure pulled back the hood and cape to reveal himself… or _herself_.

She was a teenaged girl, no older than fifteen, Arabian due to her tanned skin and raven black hair, and her cold golden yellow eyes that were as blank and lifeless as a shark's eyes. She wore not only the red cape and hood, but she also wore black leather strap boots that stopped under her knees. Black skin tight spandex with red armor padding on her outer thighs, and a belt containing two dangerous looking Silver Eagles and Two Uzis attached in the back, along with a few clips for reloading. On her left thigh was a clip pouch of sorts also strapped on. She also wore a skin tight black shirt, with red armor padding going down into a V sign, almost exposing cleavage of sorts. Her shoulders were circular padded, and she had black tight sleeves, with red forearm guards with black gloves. And behind her back was a huge sword of sorts that was wrapped in a cloth of sorts.

She then radioed on a Bluetooth looking device as she reported, "Yeah, there were more monsters at this sight. Odd thing about it, they were doing my job," for a moment there was silence, "Understand. I'll stay in town and keep an eye on them," and then she walked away, disappearing from sight.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; New Girls in Town pt.1**

* * *

**Name:** Leon Blake

**Age:** 16

**Hair**: Brownish Black

**Eyes**: Brown

**Likes**: Girls, Courtney, All-Meat Pizza Football and sports, Hanging out with the guys; getting scratched behind the ears (in werewolf form).

**Dislikes**: Having to lose control of his Lycan basic instincts; Being Alone as well; Justin falling for Courtney; Justin getting more girls than him… which irks other guys as well.

**Family**: Parents; Unknown, Lucien: Clan elder, Raze: Mentor

**Background:** Leon, like the rest of his family, was born a werewolf in the place to where his colony had lived for over centuries, in the town of Amityville. At a young age, Leon had made friends with a young Justin at the time. But when he began to show early stages of Lycanthropy or Werewolfism, he had to immediately be sent away with his clan's trainer, Raz. Most of his childhood, he had spent months, training his body to control the werewolf within him, as well as martial arts and breathing exercises in order to control it further.

Finally, after vigorous training, Leon came back into town, fully in control of his Lupine form. He had used his powers and skill to make the football team's runner. Due to the fact that his werewolf nature also includes canine pheromones, it would only be natural for him to be quite a horn dog amongst the girls of Amityville's high school. Personally, he didn't have much for relationships, or if he didn't care about them. That is until he met Courtney.

For some odd reason, he just goes after her like crazy, but ultimately fails when he hears about her and Justin. Though that didn't shrink his abilities to his clan elders when he heard some of his clan members went missing. This leads him to Fever Swamp to find not only the perp, but his beloved and her friends finding the perp as well. This leads up to a rescue mission and a fight to catch the Uber Wolf, in which both teams work together to beat him.

Afterwards, Leon joins their group as a tracker and a fighter. And even though he's joined the team, and mended an old friendship, he still tries to flirt with the girls of the team, leading to humorous failures.

**Personality**: Described as a tough character, he's also pretty worried about changing accidentally and mauling someone without him in control. This is probably the main reason why he keeps a pouch full of both Wolfsbane, to reverse his changes, and Locoweed, to induce his changes. it's also the reason why he doesn't try to have much of a relationship with girls at all; in the fear that he could tear them apart… or that they'll freak out when he changes due to the Locoweed or the next full moon.

Due to being part-wolf, Leon proves to be very laid-back. He likes to wise-crack and make snappy quips, and seems to be quick with making decisions as well. Perhaps true to his cocky nature, he sometimes finds himself going far too fast for himself, which can lead to mistakes. Though he is clearly not very "book smart" (unlike Justin) he is quite "street smart" and is often understands/catches on to the things that the others don't.

Leon has a clear head when in battle and on the football field, but when it comes to girls, he's a shameless peeping tom flirt. Though he doesn't show it much (considering that other students would call him a pervert), his affections lie with Courtney.

It should be noted he has no second thoughts about trying to impress other girls. While working in the club, he tends to leave all the work to his subordinates, including the distribution of the paper. Leon has proven himself a loyal friend and has provided the group with helpful information, often acting as the comic relief.

Despite being cocky and a playboy, Leon is a chivalrous person and would never hit a woman unless she is a powerful fighter. He has a strong dislike of vampires magic, with Justin and Elda being one of the few exceptions.

Leon may not show it, but he has a very lonely past, because being a _werewolf _has made him, from birth, an outcast of both humanity, despite the fact other werewolves help and stay with him. This makes him value both his friendship with Justin, Lucien and Raze, as well as the others, they become the only true friends or family he's ever had.

Leon is fond of Courtney, considering of her dark nature, and would do anything to please her… or for her to go on a date with her. Although it's considered as a usual thing for him to flirt with girls, Courtney seems to be a special case. Some time in the story, Alex asks why he's so attracted to her, and he simply replies, 'she's got an amazing scent that just drives a wolf wild'.

Alex and Oogie are always good for a laugh whenever they are around. Plus, he asks Alex in for favors once in a while; namely photos of girls either in sexy swimsuits, lingerie, or just completely naked.

Lilith, and later on Elda and Zazie, are some of the girls that he likes to hang out… and grope sometimes in hilarious circumstances. Which in turn earns a slap to the face, frozen gonads, or other means to beat him up.

Elsa and Leon are also two friends who are also powerful allies as well, enjoying workouts as well. For some odd reason, he doesn't flirt with her at all, considering she's just as attractive as the others.

Justin and Leon were pretty good friends back as kids, but because of the werewolfism, their friendship had become strained. Justin didn't know what was going on at the time, and Leon just kept it a secret for as long as he could, so their friendship was obviously strained. But after the Fever Swamp incident, the two reconciled completely and were once again friends. Except when it comes to Courtney's affections, the two are often competitive. Despite the fact that Justin's part vampire due to the Kinsmir Blade, Leon still remains a friend, but because of the Kinsmir Blade, he also has an obligation to help him understand the blade better, considering the werewolves are the only ones who respect the Balance between the feuding races.

Leon sees both Max and Arte as sort of little siblings to him. Max because he's a pretty cool dude as well as Courtney's brother. And Arte, because… well, she's kind of cute and one day would become a knockout.

Later on in the story, he is somewhat a little distrustful around the other new members of the group to come, one being Kharu.

**Powers:** Leon is a Brown Timber Werewolf, one of the known werewolves to be both fast and vicious in their nature. As a werewolf, when a full moon shines brightly, his abilities are heightened to the point where his speed exceeds even Lilith. As a werewolf, when a full moon shines brightly, or when he takes a whiff of Locoweed or Wolfsbane, his abilities are heightened to the point where his speed exceeds even Lilith or Justin in their monster states.

While werewolves in general are stated to have their power wax and wane with the lunar cycle, it is unknown if all werewolves receive this much of an increase. His claws are also as sharp as ever, enabling him to claw into stone in order to climb up wooden, stone, or steel walls.

Regardless, Leon is still exceptionally fast, even when the moon is not full, able to land dozens of blows in a singe pass against his opponents. He is widely regarded as one of the strongest top-tier monster at the school by the other students but he doesn't really care bout it, preferring to keep out of the limelight.

**Concept:** The idea came from Gin from Rosario to Vampire, but also a mixture of Miroku and Kotaru. His werewolf form is also a mix between John Talbain's form as well as a Lycan from Underworld.


	19. Don't Go Under the Basement pt1

**Author's Note: The first chapter is gonna have Courtney narrate, so don't be confused by that. Also, I've decided to give the Night-Bumpers (their official team name) outfits that won't be as wear and tear as their old clothing when they go on missions. Plus, they'd look pretty good in them.**

* * *

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Don't Go Under the Basement; New Girls in Town pt.1**

* * *

**Amityville High School**

**School Basement**

* * *

The basement of the high school was vast and deep; almost like the basement parking lot of a mall. Pipes and boilers were built all over the place, as well as AC machines in order to cool down the area. It resembled a sort of concrete modern castle dungeon of sorts. However, it wasn't concrete at all… at least not for the moment, for there were vines and foliage all over the place. The basement looked like a museum-sized green house, filled with exotic plants that were growing all over the place, and out of the walls, but mostly it was giant wild vines the size of red wood tree trunks. But it wasn't all that beautiful, for beauty can also hide danger.

This truth was made evident as giant man-eating fly traps roared and ran on four-legged root legs towards Leon and Justin, both transformed and ready for battle. Justin charged in first, as he brought up his right forearm, with a few metal saw blades popping out, and then suddenly began to vibrate at a high frequency.

When one of the plant beasts shot right at him, he swiped at them with the blades. Immediately, they sliced through the beast like butter as the plant beasts shrieked as they slid in two pieces each; green slime-like blood spewing out.

When a few others charged right at the two, Leon pounced right at him. As he pinned them down, they wrapped their thick roots on his arms and any part they could. However, Leon got back up, and with his strength and claws, he tore the roots apart. However, one of the plant beasts still had a hold on him, but Leon saw that as an advantage. He tugged hard on the roots, causing the plant beast to et pulled in… and Leon took a big bite out of it with his Lycan jaws.

The beast shrieked as it spasmed for a moment, spewing out green ooze until it collapsed. The second plant was about to get him, until he stomped on it hard with his hind foot, smooshing it into a paste of sorts. Afterwards, he lifted his foot and saw the plant slime dripping off, and grimaced in his wolf form, "Ugh! This is why I didn't like spinach when I was a kid."

"Try and get used to it again," Justin shot back as the two ran on ahead towards their target, "We still have to deal with the Queen Weed until the others get here."

At the far end of the room, transformed from what were the primary boilers, was the boys' intended target. Their target was sitting on a comfy couch throne made of tree leaves, vines, and mostly bushes. It was a girl, of sixteen and Caucasian, slim and slender figure with beautiful skin, long blonde hair that went down her back, jungle green lipstick, and dazzling emerald eyes. However, something was amiss about her; as the only thing she was wearing a dress that split down to her bellybutton, exposing her cleavage a bit, no back, shoulder-less, and the skirt going down to her ankles, but split down from her left ankle to her hip. But the odd thing about the dress… was that it was made entirely out of leaves. Around her waist was a belt made entirely made of vines with a rose as the buckle. Around her arms were vines as well, acting as gloves, a vine ankle bracelet was on her right ankle with a leaf on it. And around her neck was a silver necklace with a rose-shaped pendant of gothic design. And embedded into the center of the pendant, a dazzling green emerald that sparkled light green.

The girl sneered at the two approaching her as she said in a calm and cool voice, "You know… you two are really becoming thorns in my side," and then she lifted her right hand gently, and swiftly pointed forward.

Suddenly, vines came out of the plant throne she sat in, and almost obeying her body language, the vines shot straight at the two. Leon shot his paws out and swiped at the first vine, shredding it up with his claws, grabbed the remaining piece that was still attached to the throne, and gnawed at it.

"And you're no rose yourself, Ivy," Justin said as he ran towards the vines that attacked him.

He easily cut his way through them with his blades. He and Leon continued to charge at her, until more vines shot out at them. More of them shot out from under them, from the walls, and even from the ceiling as the two boys tried to fight against them. Suddenly, moss started to grow on their feet; anchoring or gluing them both to where they stood. They tried to fight their way free in order to charge right at the mysterious girl named Ivy. But it was too late, considering the vines were tough to try and tear apart. It was almost as if the vines were made of titanium steel rather than plantation. The two continued to struggled, but to no avail as the girl named Ivy smiled at them both.

The plant throne then stretched towards them by a bark post, growing towards them. Ivy was carried on it as it finally stopped twelve inches from them both. As soon as she was there, the vines pulled down on the two boys, forcing them both on their knees, with their hands keeping them from getting pulled on their stomachs. They were forced to bow to this Plant Witch as she smirked with much satisfaction.

"Oh, come on boys," Ivy smirked victoriously as she gingerly and gently stepped off her throne. She then walked to Justin as she stopped; her feet almost touching Justin's knees. She then bent down until she was eye-to-eye with him as she smiled, "Why do we have to fight, Justin?" she then cupped Justin's face as she leaned in and whispered seductively, "Let's… kiss and make up," and then without a second thought… she planted a big kiss on him, surprising Justin big time.

However, it wasn't the kiss that was important… but when her lips touched his, green veins started to spread around his mouth, and then to his eyes. She pulled away, licking her lips as she got up, and strode to Leon… and did the same that ended with the same results as it did with Justin. As the two boys received their kiss, they slumped forward, with only the vines and moss holding them up.

Ivy stood back up as she looked down on the two boys, smiling like she had a scheme planned for the two. She then touched her lips as she licked them, "Man, I don't know who's the better kisser."

"YOU OVERBLOWN HUSSY!"

Ivy's eyes lit up with surprise as she looked around, trying to find out where the voice was coming from. "We're up here, stupid," Ivy looked up to see three people standing on one of the high steam pipes connected to the roof. It was Courtney, Elsa, and Lilith, and they were dressed in peculiar outfits.

Courtney was dressed in what appeared to be a modern day Witch's outfit, minus the witch's hat. She wore a black mini-jacket with it half-zipped, exposing a tight ruby red turtleneck shirt, with her dragon necklace showing. The sleeves of the jacket were normal from shoulder to elbow, but then came into open sleeves, sort of like a monk's robes, and from her hands to forearms were long red fingerless gloves with black wristbands. She also wore a black skirt with a batwing design to it that reached over her knees and ended there, and red pantyhose stockings, and a black belt that dangled at her hips. She also wore black boot sneakers with red straps to them, and over her shoulders, she wore a duffle bag, containing the Book of Goosebumps itself.

Elsa was transformed into her Gestalt Battle mode, but like Courtney, she too wore a black outfit. She wore what appeared to be a turtleneck sleeveless shirt with the back exposed, and had two gray stripes that started over the nipple and went down across vertically down the ribs. She had on baggy jeans that allowed her armored kneecaps to show, and had two horizontal lines at the knees. She also had on a repairman's utility belt, containing a few unknown substances.

And lastly, Lilith was wearing perhaps the most skimpiest outfit ever. She was wearing a shoulder-less one piece bathing suit that exposed her belly button and back with light green trim. Black stockings that went up to her bathing suit outfit, and had a black utility belt of her own with a phany pack in the back. She was also wearing fingerless gloves with green bands on them, and toeless and soless footwear with green bands on the ankles. But the most distinguishing feature about her outfit, was that she had her wings out, but folded together to create a long skirt for herself.

However, Lilith was too pissed off to show off her new outfit at this point. She had taken a glimpse of what the girl, Ivy, had done: planted a kiss on Justin's lips. This was pretty evident as she flailed her arms about and shouted, "HOW DARE YOU! THAT WAS HIS FIRST KISS! AND IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME DOING IT!"

Courtney smacked her face as she groaned in defeat, "Lilith. Will you behave yourself," however, Courtney made it very hard for herself not to shout out as well. Considering, for some odd reason, it irked her to see Ivy kiss Justin like that. But she shook her head as she called down, "Ivy, you have to stop this," she pointed out to the plants as she made this evident, "I know how much of an eco-goth you are. But this is going too far."

"Oh, come on, Cor," Ivy smiled innocently as she looked to her as she stated, "I'm just doing what needs to be done," she then smiled, "I'm just following Shanbahac's goal: to restore nature to it's utopian form."

Suddenly, from out of the shadows and behind where Ivy's throne was, a massive plant stretched towards and stopped under Ivy and the boys. The plant was a mixture of red and green, with thorn vines and regular vines, with their tips opening up to reveal a five-way mouth with jagged teeth in them. But the most distinguishing part of this plant, was that it had a face. It looked like a bulb of sorts, with four red dome eyes and four horn teeth at the tip of it.

Ivy looked up to it, as it looked down, and she nodded, "Yes, I understand, Great Lord," she then looked back up to Courtney, "Shanbahac wants to know if you'll accept joining him, Cor," she then smirked as vines slithered around her, almost like they were loving and caressing all over her body.

She brought one of the vines to her cheek as she rubbed it and cooed affectionately, "As Wiccans, we're Shamans to the ancient spirits of the Elements. Witches who summon the Elemental Spirits as well as masters of the elements that we're born to control. Guardians of the Earth and its beauty," she then let go of the vine as she stood on the bush, and then a bark-sized vine grew out and lifted her to where the girls were, and she announced to Courtney, "It's our duty to protect this Earth and fight those who seek to destroy the delicate balance. Wherever they are, whoever they are… by any means necessary!"

Courtney remained silent at this point, lowering her head down as her face was covered in shadows at this point. Lilith looked at her with shock as she shot out, "Courtney! Have you lost your mind?" she pointed at the creature, Shanbahac, and shouted, "Remember what Stranger told us about that plant? You can't side with it!"

"She's right," Elsa insisted, looking innocent and naïve as she was, pleading with her friend, "Courtney, you cant…"

Suddenly, two vines shot right at the two, making sure they dodged it as they jumped back. Ivy, who had controlled the vines, sneered at the two as she shot back, "Stay out of this, Monsters. This is between Wiccans," she then turned her attention back to Courtney, and then her vicious nature retracted to the friendly nature that she had earlier, "So, Cor, what do you say? You in… or are you…"

"You're right, Ivy," Courtney answered, not lifting her head up, "A Wiccan's duty is to use and protect the power of Nature," but then she balled up her fists as they shook a little, and her voice began to quiver a little, "But this isn't protecting… it's terrorism. You're being just as destructive as those you want to punish," she then looked at Ivy, revealing tears streaming down her face as she genuinely spoke her mind, "And I can't side with a Demon of Nature that wants to defile that in order to eradicate humanity…" and then looked at Ivy even more sad as she finished, "… nor can I side with you on this."

Ivy looked at Courtney in disbelief, unable to believe what she had just heard. The news hit her hard in the head like a jackhammer, as she looked at her in defeated disappointment and sorrow, "So… you would side… with the humans… over your own… best friend?"

Courtney nodded her head as she dug in her pocket, "The Ivy, my first friend that I knew died a long time ago," and then pulled out what appeared to be a rose-shaped pendant, as she clutched it hard, "Her heart anyway…" and then she threw it at Ivy, who caught it in her hand.

Ivy looked at Courtney in disbelief at this action, and then at her hand. She opened it to look at the rose pendant as her expression returned to sorrow. She gazed at the pendant, realizing she had lost something precious to her. It was obvious the pendant had been a gift she had given to Courtney. And to have it returned to her, and what she had said to her… it was evident that their friendship had ended.

"I'm sorry," Courtney said, not taking it well, but remaining calm.

Ivy looked at the pendant as she whispered, "Me too… I just hoped…" but it never finished as she clutched the pendant in her hand and brought it to her chest, cradling it in both hands and lowering her head. Then for a few seconds, her eyes shot open, glowing green with fury as she gave Courtney a scolding look, and muttered loud enough for Courtney to hear, "Okay… if you're not with us, then your against us," then her hands glowed as vines with thorns grew out, taking aim at Courtney.

But before they could, the plant beast growled something, turning Ivy's attention towards it. Almost understanding, Ivy nodded and smiled, "Okay. I understand," she then turned her attention to Elsa and Lilith as she announced, "I'll be fighting Cor now, but I do hate to leave you two unattended," she then aimed her left hand to where Justin and Leon were still being held, and her hand glowed brighter than ever.

Suddenly, the vines and moss retracted away from the two, releasing the two boys. Then, in an almost trance like state, the two boys stood up, both still in their transformed states. Then, with Justin using the Kinsmir to grow his metallic batwings out, he flew up in a flash, along with Leon jumping up the branches and vines at blinding speed and agility, the two made their way up top. Then the two landed… right next to Ivy, and opened their eyes, revealing them to be glowing green like hers.

The girls were equally surprised by this as Ivy walked in between them both and ordered, "Justin. Leon. Take care of the Succubus and Gestalt," and then smirked at Courtney, as vines shot forward and connected to the pipe that the girl trio stood on, wrapping and forming into a bridge, "while I handle the Fire Wiccan."

Then the two boys looked to Lilith and Elsa, and both answered in a zombie-like and monotone voice, "As you wish," and both shot towards their respectable opponents.

Then Ivy looked to Courtney as she stepped on to the bridge, her hands still glowing green. Then from out of her leaf outfit, bark vines grew out and slithered on her arms and shoulders, wrapping around and hardening, making a sort of upper body armor and growing out branch like clawed fingers. Ivy smirked as she flexed her artificial and armored hands, "Now let's see who's right…" and then sneered and smirked at Courtney, "… and who's dead."

Courtney sighed at this, and her left eye sparked aflame, showing that her powers were activated. She then brought up her balled fists, as her hands and forearms were covered in powerful flames. She then hopelessly looked at her former friend as she sighed, "I guess I don't have a choice."

_Hey, guys; Courtney here! I know what you're thinking: who's this girl? Who or what's Shanbahac? And what's the deal with the rose pendant? Well, believe it or not, this is just one of those days for me. But it didn't start out like this, what with a battle between another Wiccan and a Plant Demon. It actually started five days ago, when one of my old friends from my old town moved into my new hometown… and with us trying to help out a literal Ice Queen.. Or rather… Snow Girl._

* * *

**Five Days Ago**

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

* * *

_The day started out like any other: a busy day in the Halloween store. It had been a week since the Fever Swamp incident… and no sign of any more monsters on the loose. So basically, we kept ourselves occupied with getting the store fixed up… _

_At least some of us…_

"If you're walkin' down the street, And you see a little ghost… What ya gonna do 'bout it? Ghostbusterrrrrrrs…"

"Wha?" Justin asked as he sat on a couch, and stopped playing the latest video game: Dead Space. He looked to Alex, whom was sitting on an oversized couch, working on a sketchbook of sorts, and asked with a raised eyebrow, "What are you singing?"

Alex looked up from his sketchbook activity and adjusted his glasses as he answered, "That's the Ghostbusters theme."

"No, it isn't," Justin shook his head, trying to be corrective.

"I'm pretty sure it is," Alex answered as he went back to the sketchbook.

"Nah, it sounds more like something you'd hear Jack Black singing on the whim," Justin stated as he went back to Dead Space.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Elsa suddenly busted in to the room, holding a load of books in her arms. And it was a load to which most ordinary girls would collapse from holding up. Luckily Elsa was no ordinary girl, even as she held them in one hand and placed the other on her hip, and looked to the boys scolding, "You should be helping with the bookstore, not playing around in the new Lounge Room."

They were currently in what appeared to be a game/recreation room of sorts within the Store. It had been a new room that Stranger had set up, much to Oogie's and Alex's insistence. It was an arcade, lounge, theatre, and snack bar all in one. And it was at this moment, Justin was trying out the new Xbox 360 with the latest survival/horror game, Dead Space. Elsa scolded, "I know you guys don't officially work here, but you could at least try and help out once in a while."

Justin sighed as he turned off the Xbox, and got up, stretching out his arms as he groaned, "Well… " he then walked over to Elsa as he grabbed half of the stack from Elsa, "… where would you like these?"

* * *

**Downstairs**

* * *

After a few minutes (roughly thirty-five minutes), the kids had finished restacking most of the books. They had just gotten in a few shipments from a few bookstore storage houses, as well a few candy pieces. Some of which were what appeared to be small lollipops called Cold Keepers. After the storage storing, the kids sat down, with Oogie laying on his stomach next to Courtney as she fanned herself.

Lilith looked to Justin, who was sitting on a bed of sorts, and she held a basket in her hands. She walked over to him, blushing just by being near her; her feelings for him making her feel that way. She then sat next to him, surprising him as he had a look of cluelessness on his face.

She then presented him with the cookies, "Justin… " she then looked to Justin with a blushing smile as she held them, "I baked these cookies so we could eat them together."

Without hesitation or curiosity on what was in it, love potion or not, Justin took one. He then took a bite out of it, and then lit up with a smile at Lilith, "This is delicious. Thank you, Lilith."

After hearing that, Lilith lit up as she smiled, but turned away for a moment. She blushed a little, knowing what was gonna come next as she looked to Justin. Her eyes were starry and her blush didn't disappear as she spoke up, "W… Well then…" she then scooted over to him, catching his attention; making him confused as she went on, "… I have one more present for you…"

Justin looked surprised as he asked, "Really? What is it?"

Then suddenly, Lilith, as fast as lightning, leaned in and connected her lips to his. Justin was a little shocked by this, and seemed like he was about to pull away. But then he just went with it as he had his arms around her, but then the two pulled away, as Lilith smiled, "I love you, Justin…"

* * *

**Back in Reality**

* * *

Lilith turned and tossed in her sleep, giggling and cooing as she snuggled on the couch, "Ah. Oh… don't touch me there… no… no, I can't…"

Everyone just looked at her, half-tired and somewhat freaked out or annoyed by Lilith's dream… especially Justin. Courtney groaned as she mumbled, "I swear, I think Leon's not the only one that needs a cold shower," She sighed from a little post-overwork exhaustion, "So… many… books…" she turned towards her left, where Justin was sitting next to her, half asleep, "I know I said… that I love books… but now… I think I'll be killed by them now."

"Yeah…" Justin stated as he cracked his neck, getting out all the stiffness in it, "Just stick me with a fork for now and get it over with for the day."

"I don't get why you guys are so tired," Elsa asked as she stretched out, completely charged up and still as lively as the others would be if they didn't had to work so hard, "I'm still as charged as ever. That wasn't even hard at all; you guys really need to work out more."

Oogie sighed as he groaned, "Says the girl who's got enhanced muscles and a 1.21 giggawatt battery in her back and heart."

Elsa huffed, as she crossed her arms and looked away from them, completely insulted, "Hmpf! That's just rude…" and then looked to everyone as she answered, "Besides… I have two 1.21 giggawatt batteries in my back. You should know, you guys see them when I transform in battle."

It was then that Alex came down the stairway, looking pretty proud of himself. He stopped as he looked to everyone, "Hey, guys! I finished some of the designs," but then looked confused as he saw everyone half-dead, "What happened to you guys?" everyone just gave him glares at this point, but he ignored it as he whipped out his sketchpad, to show some outfit designs, "Anyway, I finished the designs for the costumes."

"'Bout time," Courtney could only mumble.

It was then that Justin raised his head and asked, "Costumes? For what?"

"They're uniforms," Elsa corrected, being the only energetic one at the time, and started to explain, "See, Courtney and Stranger talked about it, and we decided to make uniforms out of some of the spare Nomax material that we have in storage."

"Nomax?" Justin asked, slightly confused.

"It's a sort of black flexible, yet very sturdy, material," Elsa explained further, "It was used by Witch Hunters to make their black robes," they looked a little surprised by that as Elsa smirked, "You didn't think they wore it just so they could look good, did you?"

KLING, KLING

The kids, especially a drooling Lilith who had gotten up, shot up as they heard the door opening. They all looked to see who it was that had entered, and the boys were fairly surprised. It was a girl, around the age of fifteen, slender and slim; her skin was snow white, and her hair was icy violet, cut short to her shoulders, with two long bangs that went down to her shoulders, and her eyes were icy violet as well. She was dressed in brown buckle sandals, dark blue jean shorts that covered her knees, a white sleeveless turtleneck tank top, a small red scarf with tussles on it, and an oversized black sweater jacket that covered her arms but she allowed it to fall off her shoulders and hang by her elbows, and she had a lollipop in her mouth, which was made evident of the stick sticking out of her mouth.

Courtney, being the employee as well as Elsa, got up as the two greeted her, politely as Courtney went first, "Greetings. Welcome to Stranger's Halloween Store. How can we help you?"

The girl looked around for a moment, seemingly ignoring the two girls. But then she turned her attention to the two again, and to the boys and other girl that was with them. She then tilted her head a little to the right, looking at them, all monotone and spoke in a monotone voice as well, but a pretty one, "Are you all… friends?"

Everyone seemed a little surprised by that question, even from someone they didn't meet until now. Elsa, being the only one to take charge at this point, smiled as she nodded, "Yeah, we're all friends."

The girl looked at them, and then coldly replied, "different people getting close to one another… I don't really get it."

Taking that as an insult, Lilith shot forward and scolded, "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" all she and the others got was a cold stare from the girl, causing Lilith to shiver a bit, 'Sheesh! This girl's freaky!'

The girl blinked for a moment, until she spoke up, "Lollipops," everyone blinked in confusion by that, until the girl pointed to them on the counter as she asked, "Do you have any for sale?"

Courtney snapped out of it as she smirked, "Oh yeah, we've got plenty of them," she then walked over to it as she held the jar out for the girl, "You can take as many as you can. They're actually free; we had so many left over from Halloween, we couldn't throw them away."

The girl strode over, and only took around ten as she put them in her pockets. But then, she turned towards Justin's direction, and seemed only a little surprised by seeing him. Without any hesitation, she slowly walked towards him and looked him. However, how close she was to him, almost in kissing range, made Justin felt a little nervous around her.

Finally, she spoke up as she asked, "You're… Justin Seyvont, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah," Justin nervously answered, but then got confused as he asked, "Hey, wait! How'd you know me?"

"I heard about you from some of the Shop Class students in high school," the girl then took out her lollipop, and then surprising everyone, let out a small smile at him, "You know… you're even cuter than I imagined you be."

Justin was caught off guard by that, but both Lilith and Courtney were both wide eyed by this. Then the girl turned and walked towards the door, "See ya later," and opened the door to leave, but not before she stopped, and turned to see Justin again, as she let her small smile appear, "By the way… my name is Zazie. Zazie Hailieday," and closed the door as she left, leaving everyone terribly confused.

Courtney walked up to Justin as she looked at him and asked, "Who was that girl?"

Justin shrugged, "Not really sure. This was the first time I met her."

"Well, she certainly knew who you were, Lover Boy," Oogie stated as he had a sly and perverted smile on his face, "Guess a guy like you's becoming' catnip for the ladies."

Suddenly, Lilith, who was miffed off more than right now, grabbed Oogie by the head as she snarled, "How'd you like it if I rubbed your stupid raccoon face into the pavement!"

"Don't you mean my stupid Boogie monster face?" Oogie squealed as he wiggled in an attempt to break free.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

**That Night**

* * *

The place known as the Sludge Hangout was conveniently a downstairs bar, down not too far to where Amityville was located. At the moment, there were just a couple of drunks and guys playing cards, while the bartender was working at the table. He was busy, cleaning a few bowls and glass cups; just doing and minding his own business as his customers were just having a good time. That is until the door opened, bringing about everyone's attention.

Standing outside the front door, letting a little light in to the darkened bar, was the same red hooded girl from the Fever Swamp incident. She walked on in, strolling through and letting the door close behind him. As she walked towards the bar, the other customers in the decadent bar eyed her with much distaste; it was almost like this girl was giving them a bad taste in their mouths just by walking in.

As soon as she sat on a stool in front of the bartender, the Bartender continued to clean one glass, but then looked at the girl, "What can I get for you, young lady?"

"A hot fudge sundae.", the girl answered, fiddling with a straw at this point.

The bartender scoffed at that as he let out a small chuckle, "Sorry, kid. This is a bar. All you can get here is whisky, beer, or water."

She shook her head from under her hood as she replied, "Never mind. I was just hoping to sweeten up the smell of this place. It smells like crap…. or more… like blood.", that got only a temporary reaction from the other occupants as the slightly turned to the girl's direction, as she continued, "You see I've heard rumors about a particular bar around here. A dive to be more like it; where human lives are the main course instead of beer, chips and peanuts."

It was then that a fellow, looking to be about in his twenties and looked like he worked in a factory, stopped what he was doing. He was playing a game of cards as it were and put down his deck; showing that he had a Royal Straight Flush. The guy chuckled unnervingly as he got up and looked to the girl, "Sorry, kid."

She looked at the hand that was dealt and smirked, confidently, "Royal Straight Flush. Not the best hand I'd take at this point."

The man smirked as the man's eyes glowed red, "Well, if that's the case…", and then his clothes shredded off as he started to change shape, in a beastly monster of sorts. After the transformation was ended, what was standing in the room, was a battle mountain troll around seven feet tall, vicious teeth glistening out, as the troll yelled out in a monstrous voice, "…I'LL HAVE YOU FOR LUNCH TODAY!"

But then suddenly, the girl had drawn out one of her Desert Eagles, and shot him, blowing a massive hole into his shoulder, blowing his arm off. The Troll fell back, just as the hooded girl jumped at him. Her cloak opened up, showing off her red and black jumpsuit as well as her weapons. As she was over him, she drew out her other Desert Eagle, and shot at him several times, until his head was noting more than wet chunks of meat and bone on the floor.

She gracefully landed on the floor, cat style, with her cloak floating down, and her hood off, showing off her long raven black hair, and showing off her eerie yellow eyes. "One down…" she told herself, as she looked around, not turning her head at all.

Then suddenly, the rest of the men transformed into the same kind of troll-like monsters, and attacked her. She then put the Desert eagles back, and pulled out what appeared to be a powerful Uzi of sorts. She then furiously shot at their legs, causing them to fall flat on their faces. She then emptied the whole clip right at them… into their skulls.

Suddenly, the bartender, who also had transformed into a Troll, attacked her, by grabbing her by the throat. He then bit down hard on the arm that held the Uzi, causing her to let go of it. However, he didn't bite it off as it just bled, but the girl didn't scream… not one bit.

Instead, she just smirked as her eyes almost glistened with a lust for blood at this point, "Not bad… barkeep," and with her free hand, she reached for the bandaged item strapped on her back.

She pulled on some sort of cord, and something buzzed to life as she pulled on the cloaked item out. The bandages shredded, revealing a huge chainsaw sword… which she brought down on the remaining troll. Blood and guts splattered all over the bar as the beast slumped to the ground.

The girl got up, and sighed in relief as she got up; half of her face was covered in blood as she put away her weapons. She pulled the hood over her face, as she opened the door of the bar and walked away. But not before she said ot the corpses, "Next time you open shop… don't forget to add sundaes to the menu."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Ice Girl's Melting Heart pt.2**


	20. Don't Go Under the Basement pt2

**Goosebumps Adventure!**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Don't Go Under the Basement; Ice Girl's Melting Heart pt.2**

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Casper Grade School**

* * *

The Grade school of Amityville was just as old and historical as Amityville Junior High was in appearance.

The school was just like any other high school or grade school; a relic from the 1950s. With its four story window doorway and impressive six story height, it would have passed on as a high school to anyone else. The school had been stripped of its Halloween decorations, as the holiday had long and passed. Now it was covered in thanksgiving decorations as November had rolled in. Teens of all shapes and sizes were entering the school, just as the late bell rang. And Max Keller, Courtney's little brother, was one of the many that was there.

He was playing Frisbee with the other kids as he was laughing and having the best time of his life in the school. He was dressed in a black sweat shirt with green trim, khaki pants and white and blue sneakers. And most kids his age, he was having the time of his life playing with the other kids on the school playground.

One of his friends had thrown the Frisbee straight at him, as he reached out and called out to everyone, "I got it. I got it!" however, it went over him, and over the fence. The kids all groaned at this, but Max smirked, "Don't worry. I got it," and ran over to the fence to climb it and retrieve the Frisbee.

He had made it over to the fence, and began to climb up the fence. Amazingly to the other kids, Max had scowered over the fence like a monkey would and hopped on over to the other side. He looked around to find where the Frisbee had landed to, as he scratched his head in confusion, "Where'd it go?"

"Um, excuse me…"

Max turned around to see where the voice had come and came face to face with the figure. The one who spoke out to him was a girl, eight years old just like him. She was Caucasian, her skin was slightly whiter, almost snow white, had electric pink hair that glowed radiance of its own cut to her shoulders. She was dressed in a black dress, long sleeves, a red bow tie around her neck, dark pink stockings, and black mary janes for her shoes.

Max had not noticed the girl before, nor did she seem like she went to this school. As a matter of fact, this was the first time that he had ever seen this girl at all in this town. He might not have been here that long, but he was here long enough to know that this girl was new around here.

However, he shook that aside as he stepped forward, but stopped as he saw the girl looked a little shy at him. She stepped back a little bit, holding the Frisbee up to her mouth and shrugging her shoulders up. Sensing the girl's uneasiness, Max kept his distance and gave her his usual friendly smile. The same smile that he had used on his sister and Mom whenever he tried to use the old innocent act on them when something when wrong.

He then innocently talked to her for the first time, "Hi, I'm Max," he then politely asked, "What's your name?"

The little girl shrunk back even more behind the Frisbee, and for a moment she didn't talk. Though she did peak up from the Frisbee, looking at Max with her shining and hauntingly cute ruby pink eyes. She then squeaked out something as she spoke to his question, "A… Ar…. Arte. My name is Arte."

Max smirked as he jumped over, "Arte, eh? That's a really pretty name," but stopped as he saw the girl jump back and shrink behind the Frisbee again. He had realized he had made her shy again, so he slowly made his way to her as he gently asked, "Um, sorry to ask, but could I have our Frisbee back? It's almost time to go back inside."

Arte pulled the Frisbee away from her face as she had a look of confusion and shock on her face. She looked at him for a moment at seeing him so close. Suddenly, her nose picked up a smell from him; almost intoxicating as she blushed a little. She shied away from him for a moment, letting her shoulders rock up and down like a seesaw as she smiled for a moment.

Finally, she looked to him as her smile stayed on her face as she held out the Frisbee in front of Max. She then finally giggled as she replied, "Okay, here you go, Max."

Max smirked at the girl's smile, "Thanks, Arte," and graciously took the Frisbee from her. But then he didn't expect what would happen next. Arte leaned in towards him, close to his neck, as she sniffed at him… just like a cat would. Max, who was a bit startled by this, asked out, "Uh, Arte… what are you doing?"

Arte continued to sniff around his neck, until realizing what she had done, went wide eyed and pulled away blushing. She giggled in embarrassment as she answered, "Sorry about that," she then scratched her cheek lightly as she gave him a cat grin, "It's just that… well… " she then looked at him, blushing as she grinned at him, with her hands clasped together and brought up to her chest, as she beamed happily to him, "… you have an amazingly exciting smell. Almost like catnip."

Max sweat dropped for a moment, and looked at Arte with a wary smile, "Catnip?" just then, the bell rang, alerting the two kids. Max looked at the school, and gulped, "Uh oh, I gotta get going…" he then turned to face Arte, but then noticed she was gone, "Arte?"

But that would have to wait another time, as he climbed the metal fence and hopped over to the other side. He raced over to his classmates, as he and the kids entered the building. Outside of the school, near an old tree growing outside a classroom to where Max was now entering, Arte's silhouette was seen. And then for a few seconds, the silhouette shrunk, and all that was left was her clothes and shoes.

Then, as Max was sitting down in class along with the other students, outside on the tree branch, stirred movement. On the branch, overlooking the classroom, was the cutest little black kitten with pink stripes you had ever seen. The little kitten sat on the branch, overlooking Max as the class began.

* * *

**Amityville Junior High**

* * *

As always on the day, it was another ordinary day in the high school. The mysterious disappearance of Mr. Isaacs was nothing sort of news to anyone at all. No one bothered to talk about it; if they did, they probably thought that Isaacs just ran away due to the werewolf rumors. Well, whatever the reasons were, the school overheard that his class was gonna have a new instructor… as well as some new students.

That time, during the Mythology Class, the usual gang of Courtney, Justin, Alex, and Elsa who attended the class, along with Leon who had yet to make his appearance, just sat and waited for the day to start and finish. However, it began with the usual intercom announcement,

ATTENTION STUDENTS. ONCE AGAIN, THE THANKSGIVING DANCE WILL SOON BE COMING AROUND THE CORNER, SO BE SURE TO BRING OVER A DISH OR TWO, AS WELL AS A DATE FOR THE DANCE. THIS IS PRINCIPAL MCKIBBLE SIGNING OFF.

Immediately after the intercom died off, Alex groaned in annoyance, "Great. Another dance, and another day I'm gonna go dance-less."

"Just what is it with everyone in this school and dances," Courtney asked as she raised her eyebrow to Alex and then to everyone else in the circle as she leaned back in her chair, and openly complained, "I mean, seriously. What's the big deal? It's just some stupid teen courtship party," she just huffed as she leaned forward and crossed her arms, huffing, "You wouldn't catch me dead to one of those dances if my life depended on it."

Elsa looked at her friend in confusion, leaned in to ask, "But isn't that what teens are supposed to do these days?"

Courtney gave her a stern look as she answered, "Not me, sister."

Justin, while tapping a pencil on the table, stopped for a moment at a realization. He then smirked at Courtney, who caught the look, and he deduced, "I think I might know why you don't like those sort of things."

Courtney's eyes squinted right at him as she glared and asked in a threatening tone, "Oh? And what would those reasons be… Sherlock?"

"Elementary, my dear Keller," Justin replied as he took his pencil and pointed right at her, "You either haven't acquired a date to the dance… or you just don't know how to dance at all."

For a moment, Courtney was pretty quiet for a moment, until she turned to face Justin. All around her, a scary flaming aura erupted all around her as she snarled at Justin, almost at the point of sounding like an animal. She looked at him with murder in her eyes, which kind of freaked him and the others out as she growled, "What… do you… mean… BY THAT?"

The others, slightly worried about what was gonna happen, gulped at the frightening act of Courtney losing her temper. However, Justin, who had remained calm, merely answered, "I'm just saying… either you can't dance… or nobody's asked you, that's all."

Courtney's eyebrow twitched as she asked in fury, "What? Are you telling me, a young, attractive, and intellectually-challenging girl, cant get a date? Courtney's a loser, a joke? Or that I couldn't get a date if my life depended on it?"

Realizing that maybe he had made a mistake on what he had said, Justin gulped as he stood up, "I'm just saying that… maybe I could… um, be your date."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The two had stopped their argument, only to have two recognizable people tackle them nearly to the ground. Courtney was still standing up, but with Leon grabbing her in an embrace and rubbing his chin on top of her head. He was hysterically weeping with ridiculous grief as he spouted, "Courtney, my Dark Princess! You can't soil yourself by hanging with someone like Justin!"

"Justin, darling," Lilith cried in Justin's shoulder, making him feel just a tad bit weird about this, as she went on, "Please don't do it; you're much too good to be hanging around her like Courtney. Take me to the dance! Take me!"

"Boy, Cor-girl, you really know how to hang out with a strange crowd."

It was after the whining between the two lovebirds, that Courtney's eyes went as wide as saucers in surprise. She pushed Leon off comically as she turned around to see if the owner of the voice was who she thought it was.

Standing right behind her and her friends was a girl of sixteen, Caucasian with pale skin, and long blonde hair that went down her back. She had emerald green eyes and rose red lipstick; slim and slender figure despite what she was wearing. She wore a black corset but underneath was a white button up shirt that left her cleavage exposed, as well as a black choker and silver necklace that resembled thorny vines. She also had on a black rhinestone embedded black leather vest with the collar up, long black nylon gloves that went to her shoulders, and were fingerless, showing off on her right hand a silver skull thumb ring. She also had on a long black skirt that ended at her ankles, and wore high heel black leather boots. And slung onto her shoulder was a black book bag, as her hands were on her hips, making sure the bag was held on to her shoulder.

It was just after she spotted this girl, Courtney immediately lit up like a birthday cake candle. She lit up so much with a smile on her face, it was hard to tell if she was the same Courtney Keller in the room. And then, she squealed, "EEEEEEEEEE! Ivy!"

"Cor!", Ivy lit up, as she and Courtney embraced in a hug between friends. Ivy smirked at her friend as she asked, "Didn't know you were in this backwards town."

"Yeah, I moved here," Courtney smirked, "But I didn't know you moved here either."

"Yeah, well…" Courtney started, but then froze as she shook her head, "Sorry, I'm being rude here for a second," she stepped aside to show Ivy her friends, "Guys, this is Ivy. She's an old friend from my old hometown. She's what you'd call an Eco-Goth."

"Eco-Goth?" everyone asked, even as Alex asked, "You mean like an eco-terrorist?"

"Not in the least, pal," Ivy shot out, being a little rude in some way, "Eco Goths are Children of the Earth. Basically, we strive to ensure Nature is taken care of and protected." she then crossed her arms as she scoffed, "Honestly, me? A terrorist? That's just so delinquent."

Courtney shook her head as she then made her friend's introductions, "Ivy, I'd like you to meet my friends I've made here…" she pointed to Justin as she replied, "This is Justin Seyvont, the witty tech shop class member of our group," she then pointed to Lilith, "That's Lilith Morrigan, the resident chef… and skank… of the group…"

Lilith growled at that as she finally shouted, "Hey, I resent that!" and she grabbed Justin's arm as she hugged it, despite his embarrassment, and nuzzled his shoulder with her cheek, "Besides… I have to use those kind of methods if I'm ever gonna win over Justin's Heart."

Courtney just grumbled at that as she went on and pointed at Alex, "This is Alex Foxx, photographer and journalist of the school's newspaper," then pointed to Leon as she sighed at the playboy pose he made with himself along with his football, "And this 'mutt' is Leon Blake, the speedy hope of Amityville High's football team. And a severe flirt and lecher."

Ivy looked to Leon, as he winked to her, and for a moment, saw sparkles all over him. He then spoke in a charming voice to her, "Pleasure to make acquaintance of yet another beautiful dark angel," this caused Ivy to blush a little by this, but kept her distance.

(However, off topic and putting the story on hold, Leon ran up to the computer screen and shouted, "What the hell is this? Why didn't you have me appear in the first arch of the story? I mean, okay, I was in the battle scene, but why… why didn't you include me in the Store?")

and then finally, she turned towards Elsa as she finished, "And this is Elsa Gynoid, she's taking Drama classes and sort of assists me in the Halloween Store."

As soon as she heard that, Ivy lit up like a light bulb with a smile on her face, "A Halloween Store?" she then ran over to her and grabbed her excitedly by the shoulders, "Rav-Raven, you've just struck gold and earned another notch with me. After school, let's go check it out!" but then she stopped as she raised an eyebrow and pointed behind them, "Uh, incidentally… who's that?"

Everyone looked at Ivy with confusion as they turned around to see who she was looking at. Hiding behind a desk, a very familiar girl peeked from the desk, uttering, "Jiiiiii…." as she smiled wishfully at Justin for some odd reason.

"Huh? Zazie?" Justin asked as he pointed to her, "You're in our class?" This met with a questioning gaze from everyone else.

"Sorry," the girl apologized, "I'm new here, so I'm pretty much not used to dealing with other people," and then hid behind the desk once more as she stated, "… so I just generally hide." The girl bowed and went to her seat, which was at the front of the last row that Justin and Courtney sat in.

Ivy looked to the girl as she looked to Courtney and asked, "So are all the kids here as weird as her and your new friends?"

* * *

**Later On**

**Botany Class**

* * *

After the class had been over, the professor, who looked South American, was busy with an after school activity of his own. He had recently gotten a mysterious shipment from the jungles of Brazil. Whatever it was, he opened the crate that it was shipped in; the crate was placed on his desk as he pried it open with a crowbar. After a few strained attempts, he had finally busted it open. "Finally," he told himself as he lifted the top off, "Now let's figure out what was mailed to me… and why…"

But when he looked in there, all he saw was the usual material you'd use to pack shipping crates. But there was something else in there was well. It appeared to be a piece of driftwood, almost a few centuries old. You could tell considering how old the ark was. The professor picked it up as he wanted to further examine it, but suddenly, it cracked open, surprising him from such an action, "Oh my," and at what he had found next.

Within the bark, was a strange seed, almost the size of a peach seed. It was also the color dark green, with four horned yellow teeth at the bottom, and what appeared to be big eye slits on all four corners. It was the most bizarre sight ever seen by anyone… and what made it even more bizarre was that the eye slits opened, showing red eyes staring right back at the professor.

In a panic, the professor threw the bark back into the crate, and ran off. With the professor gone, not being able to witness what was about to happen next. Suddenly, sprouting out of the seed, were five vines had stood it up, and acted like a pair of spider legs. It then crawled out of the box, and looked around to its surroundings. It then jumped off the table, and then spotted a mini-terrarium for plants. It scurried over to it and stopped, almost examining the plants within the case.

It then opened its mouth, and shot out four red vines that latched to the edge of the case. And acting like a pair of bungee ropes, it pulled itself up onto the case's edge, and plopped itself onto the dirt floor of the terrarium. It then used the vines to dig into the dirt, and buried itself deep, never to be seen again.

Suddenly, the terrarium glowed bright green for only a split second and then died down. Almost at an instant, the plants began to change and warp; almost changing into a new species of plants. In the center of it, a baby-sized bulb began to grow in an accelerated rate. And then, bursting out of the pod, was a green hand, with black thorn-clawed fingers reaching out, almost clawing its way out of it.

* * *

**After Class**

* * *

Once again, after another day of school was finally done with, the teenagers were racing down the hallway to head home or the mall. Meanwhile, Leon and Justin walked alongside one another, discussing something in great detail. "So you'll make it this time?" Leon asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I can make it," Justin replied, "I'm just worried that Raze is gonna tear my head off next time."

Leon sweat dropped as he grimaced while looking the other way, "Yeah… sorry about that. He gets a little… over excited when it comes to… "

"Justin! Leon! Wait up, you two!" Courtney called as she, and surprisingly Ivy, ran up to the two boys as she slapped Justin on the shoulder, causing him to flinch a little. She ignored it as she winked, "Hey, let's head to the Store. I promised Ivy I'd show her around."

"Um," he started as he looked to Leon, who gave him a gentle shake of his head, "Well, I…"

"Hey, I wanna walk with him too!" snapped Lilith as she suddenly appeared and grabbed Justin's other arm. It soon turned into a tug-o-war with him in the middle. Finally, Elsa and Alex walked in, just acting as spectators to this lovey-dovey scene.

"Shouldn't we stop this?" Elsa asked, looking at Justin, whom was getting pretty stretched out by this.

"Nah," Alex replied, about to take a few snapshots of the fight, "'Sides, I've been meaning to post something this goofy on Youtube."

Justin, who couldn't take this tug-of-war anymore, looked to Leon and groaned, "Help me here…" but then sweat dropped as he saw Leon crying for a moment, and looked angered, "Uh… Leon…"

"Why?" Leon whimpered as he got on his knees, nearly bawling out his eyes with tears, "Why is it that you get all the girls? I mean, I've got a couple of cheerleaders going after me… but why is it you keep getting the girls I actually have an interest in?"

Finally, after he pulled himself away from the girls, he merely said, "Sorry, but for today, I'm just gonna take the Loner road," and with that, he just walked off, leaving everyone, minus Leon, a bit confused by this.

Courtney, being his first friend, looked at his retreating form with a concerned look as she looked to Leon, "Is he alright? I mean, lately… now he's just avoiding us." lately, he had been avoiding everyone, ever since the Fever Swamp hunt.

"Well, he's just been…" Leon started to try and explain, but couldn't find a way to piece it together without telling them. Truth be told, Justin had asked him not to tell anyone about this; it was something that he didn't want them to know, at least not yet. So naturally, he lied for him, "He's working on some project that he's, uh… making a surprise for."

* * *

**Down the Hall**

* * *

As he walked down the hallway, Justin thought that he was becoming quite popular with the girls because of his ability to become a variety of strange and powerful monsters, while being envied by the boys for having the friendship of some of the hottest girls in the high school. The Gothic Wiccan punk girl, the redheaded Frankenstein Creature, and the green-haired Succubus were his closest friends here because they knew each other's secret, as well as having the same after school activity: hunting down things that go bump in the night. He was 15 and if he was ever looking for a girlfriend…

He shook his head on the notion, "Okay, that's the last thing I need to think about."

Suddenly, Justin felt another chill run down his spine. Rubbing the back of his neck, Justin suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. Turing around, he looked for some sign that someone was there. He found it when he spotted someone's shoulder sticking out from behind a pillar.

"Hey, is someone there?" asked Justin.

Things were silent for a moment. After a breath, the familiar form of Zazie Halieday poked her head out from the side with a friendly smile on her face.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Uh… hi, Zazie," Justin smiled, albeit a bit nervously around her. "How are you?"

"I am well," Zazie nodded as she walked closer to Justin, "I saw some of your work in shop class. As always, it was very good."

"Oh, thanks," Justin smiled, but then looked at her in a confused way, "Wait, you check me out during Shop Class?"

"Yeah," Zazie replied as she smiled. Reaching into her sweater jacket, she pulled out a blue book with an ornate silver heart on the back and a white rabbit on the front. "Here."

"A scrapbook?" Justin identified.

"When I was away, I asked one of the teachers to send me copies and pictures of your work," Zazie explained as Justin opened the book. "I found your articles interesting so I kept them in this scrapbook."

"Oh, thanks," Justin smiled. "I'm glad somebody likes them. I didn't think anybody liked my work…"

Opening the book to see what projects Zazie had kept, Justin was surprised to see that the odd young woman had been writing comments next to the articles. There were so many of them, Justin had some trouble reading them all. Some were pretty tiny so he wasn't sure what they were saying. "I made some comments of my own too," Zazie added.

However, when he did read them, he paled a little as he read them: _What a caring and creative guy. We're two halves of the same soul. Mrs. Zazie Seyvont, Mrs. Justin Seyvont. He's a genius. We were made for each other. He wants a girl who's different from the rest._

Justin gulped at this, keeping quiet about the comments. However, his mind was screaming in bloody murder at this point, 'WHAT THE…? THIS ISN'T A SCRAPBOOK… IT'S MORE LIKE A CRACK-UP BOOK!' he then looked to Zazie carefully as he thought, 'I'd better be careful with what I say around this girl…'

She began to smile gently as she drew a circle on the floor with her right foot. "Your creations are pretty amazing… even for a teenager. And the way you look at things, talk about your work… it's from an outsider's point of view. I can really relate to that."

Then to Justin's surprise, Zazie almost seemed to glide over to him before she wrapped her arms snugly around one of his own and contentedly rested her head on his shoulder. At this notion, Justin blushed at the contact; sure Lilith had done it to him a couple of times, but it was never done this gentle like, 'Well, I mean Lilith can be gentle, but… well never this gentle' but then he noticed something very strange about her; Zazie's body temperature seemed to be a little cold, which Justin reasoned was why she was wearing a sweater jacket and a scarf.

"I can't help but feel that our personalities are the same. Almost like I've found the other half of my soul," Zazie sighed contentedly. "You must be pretty lonely too. I know how that feels."

Justin frowned a little at the declaration, but it did hold some truth. Before he met Courntey, and after Leon left, he did feel pretty lonely sometimes. Courtney, Alex, Elsa, Oogie, Lilith, and even Leon were all good friends, but it still felt lonely a little when he couldn't hang out with them. He tried not to think about it and instead he focused on the good things he had since high school started. He had made a lot of great friends and was having lots of fun too.

"I do feel lonely sometimes," Justin admitted. "I don't have much family, but I don't feel it as often. I do remember how it feels, though."

"Then we do understand each other," Zazie smiled. "Do you want to hang out? I know a nice place."

"Well…actually…" Ben hesitated. He still had to head to the party with Moka and the others. Still, he did have some spare time and he could use it to get to know Mizore better. She looked like she really wanted to be friends. "I guess…we could hang out for little while."

"Yatta," Mizore smiled. She began tugging Ben's arm so he could follow her. "This way. I'll show you where I like to spend my time."

Not far from the two, Courtney was walking down a hallway that intersected with theirs. She was currently looking for Justin at this time; something about his attitude did not settle right. But mostly, she hated getting blown off like that. At this point, her emotions were a mixture of sadness and anger at this point. At this point, Oogie popped up from the backpack as he looked to Courtney, in a worried way, "Hey, uh, Court. You really sure that this is a good idea? I mean, he said he was gonna be busy workin' on a surprise."

"Yeah, I know, Oogie," she replied, not stopping or tearing her eyes off the hallway, "But…" she then stopped, both in her tracks and her voice, making the Boogie Monster look at her with a cocked eyebrow. She then held her right arm as she whispered, "I guess I'm generally worried about him; whenever I don't keep an eye on him, I keep thinking something's gonna happen to him."

Both knew what she meant was somewhat of the truth. Whenever Justin was out of sight, or near something dangerous, it was always the worst case scenario. First it was when she was possessed by the Haunted Mask; he had been severely injured. Heck, if the wound had gotten serious, he would have died by being pierced in a fatal region in the shoulder. Second was when Lilith, before she befriended them, had tried to turn him into a slave. And afterwards, tried to kill him, her, and Elsa when they had foiled her plan to find a mate. And thirdly, when they fought against Isaacs in his Ubber Werewolf form, his armor had suddenly retracted back. Luckily, they had taken most of the fight out of him before anyone had gotten hurt. It was nearly three times in a row that Justin was thrown into a life-or-death situation.

"It's like in every situation that we've been in, trouble seems to come after him." She then held herself in her own arms as she shivered in a deep thought, 'I wish I never read that book aloud… I wish I'd never have met him…'

Oogie looked at the distressed girl; his usual goofy smirk went to a saddened frown. He sighed, and regained a smirk at seeing her in this non-character state. He got out of the bag, perched himself on her shoulder, and patted her head affectionately as he replied, "Stop worryin' about him, Cor. Where's the Lone She-wolf that I first met?"

Courtney turned her gaze to him as she weakly replied, "I guess I softened up a bit…" and then she smirked as she joked, "… when I formed a pack of my own."

Then Oogie patted her head once again as he joked, "Yeah, I guess. It's only natural for the Alpha Female to worry that much about her mate and all."

"Wha?" Courtney nearly shouted out as she looked to her Bogart. "What are you talking about 'mate', Oogie?"

"Well, I mean Justin is your main squeeze… am I right?"

Courtney blushed to her ears at that, but then grabbed Oogie by the head as she nearly squeezed it. This time, she was seething with annoyed anger as she snarled, "You wanna repeat that death sentence, Raccoon Boy!"

"Quick!" Oogie shouted. "Somebody call the Society for Boggart Welfare!" yep, Courtney was back to her old self again.

However, that was short lived as they heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Instinctively, Courtney ran over to the side of the wall, putting Oogie on her shoulder, and hiding behind one of the support beam pillars. The two kept hidden, until they saw who it was that was coming down the hall. But much to Courtney's surprised shock, it was Justin, and he was being led out of the building by that girl, Zazie. And the worst part… her arm was liked with his.

Courtney clutched on to the pillar, her hand was shaking lightly. But it was pretty evident that she was upset about this scene, 'So this was why he wanted to leave early…' suddenly, she saw Zazie look to her direction, and quickly hid. She hid there until she heard the doors close, and then stepped out of her hiding place.

She then snarled, balling her fists up as she gritted her teeth. Seeing this, Oogie gulped as he asked nervously, "Uh… Cor?"

"That miserable…" Courtney snarled, and then stomped out towards the door, "C'mon, Oogie!" she then violently grabbed Oogie and stuffed him in her bag roughly, "We're meeting Ivy and the others at the store! NOW!"

Oogie, as he was cramped in the bag, groaned, "Oh yeah… she's back to her self again."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Girls of the Thaw pt.3**


	21. Don't Go Under the Basement pt3

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Don't Go Under the Basement; Girl of the Thaw pt. 3**

* * *

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

The store was as always completely empty, with mostly everyone either at home for the day to relax or out doing their own enjoyed hobbies or leisure pastimes. However, one teenager was still hard at work in the store, particularly brooding over as she alphabetized the current books she was putting away. Courtney was not at all happy from the current events that she had witnessed before. In fact, the burning image of Justin walking away with the new girl, arms linked together… well, it was safe to say that Stranger, Elsa, Leon, or anyone else for that matter. The only one unfortunate to be in the room… was the little Boggart, Oogie.

The cute little fellow was slightly paling at this scene, seeing his Goth owner/partner/friend this miffed off. Taking a huge risk, the little boggart gulped as he started, "Uh, Cor… maybe you should…"

Suddenly, Courtney shot a sharp and dangerous glare at the little Boggart, almost slicing him in half with her eyes. But instead of doing so, her right eye glowed yellow, as the edge of her eye lit a bit with a spark of flame. This only meant one thing: she was using her powers, and that was always a bad thing for anyone around the room. But then nothing happened, as nothing was on fire… which was obviously a good thing at this moment. That is until Oogie started to sniff around the room… and saw that the tips of all four of his tails were on fire.

The little boogie monster jumped around on the desk, frantically crying out in a panic, with his eyes bulging out of his skull, "HOLY!!! OUCH!!! JEEZ!!! MY FREAKIN' TAILS ARE ON FIRE!!!"

Courtney just huffed, going back to her work as Oogie ran around, screaming and jumping in a panic. 'Stupid Justin, with that stupid new girl, being stupid together… it's just… STUPID!!!'

"MY TAILS! OH GOD! MY TAILS!!!"

It wasn't too long, until Courtney finally huffed and took a deep breath. This caused the fire on Oogie's tails to get snuffed out, giving the little boggart some relief. The little guy, finally relieved, was about to explode at Courtney for such an act, and was at midpoint to do it, until he saw her. She was drooped on the ladder, her shoulders slouched down as she looked to be more dead than depressed. In fact, he nearly thought she was dead, until she let out a small sad sigh.

Finally, the little boogie monster looked at his human companion, feeling pity for the poor girl. "Uh, Courtney… have you noticed something awkward with this scene. Other than the fact that my tails were previously on fire."

"Aside from the fact that I'm obviously moping?" Courtney sighed, slumping down from the ladder. She walked to the reading table and sat down, resting her head on her arms on the table, sighing heavily. She buried her face in her arms as she muffled, "I mean, I know I should at least be happy for him. Justin's not exactly the chick magnet that most people would think," she muttered to herself. "So why can't I be happy for it?"

Then Oogie cocked an eyebrow as he smirked perversely, as he stroked his fuzzy chin, "Saaaaay… ya know, with the way you're acting, maybe you're…"

"Do you want your tails to be on fire again," Courtney asked, slightly miffed off a bit, as she shot a sharp glare to her little boogey monster.

Oogie just slunked back from the desk as he nearly fell off the other side of the table. The little Boggart's eyes nearly shot out of his skull as he squeaked, "Right, right… sorry about that."

Back downstairs, Lilith and Elsa had just finished an errand they had finished and had now stepped into the Main Lobby. Elsa was carrying plastic grocery bags, while Lilith had with her a backpack, and a small tray of cookies. As they started to head for their kitchen area, they were going through a heated argument. Well, heated on one side, which was Lilith's side, as Elsa was the calm one.

"And I saw him and the new girl. Together," Elsa explained as they walked into the kitchen.

Fuming on this info, Lilith shot out, "Elsa! I. don't. want. To hear about it." For a moment, she calmed down a bit, as she huffed, "It's beyond me to understand why boys go after the stalking type."

"Speaking of which," Elsa stated as she placed the bags on the cutting table. "I heard a while ago last year, a stalker girl was going after one of the teachers. A sort of crush deal, I think. They said that he rebuffed her feelings, and all fo a sudden… he was flash-frozen in a block of ice the next day."

After hearing that, the succubus teen shivered as she gulped, "Man, stalkers are creepy." but then she lit up again as she held out her tray with a wink. "But… these babies are certain to snare Justin's heart. These cookies are laced with Love Potion 9 ½ ; when he eats them, he'll love me like crazy."

Elsa just sighed as she shook her head slowly, crossing her arms as she turned away and whispered, "Sheesh. She's a lot scarier and more ruthless than any stalker."

Not noticed by the two, a shadowed figure walked in through the lobby, and headed up the stairs. And as that figure walked up, a small trail of puddles was left behind with every step the figure made as they made their trail to the next level of the building.

* * *

**Lake Crystal**

Unlike its sister woods, Fever Swamp, Lake Crystal was a sight of beauty well preserved in its state. The trees and grass were well alive and green with life, teeming uncontrollably and growing all over. The river sparkled like mad as its untouched and non-polluted waters rippled with fish and life. It was the perfect place for kids to go fishing and have a summer party, or a spring swimming party. But for now, it was being used by two familiar teens for stone skipping, as Zazie skipped one stone that went five times until it finally sunk into the water after the final skip.

"Did you see that?" Zazie beamed with joy as she jumped up and down, pointing out at the lake after skipping a stone across the lake, "It skipped 5 times."

"That's awesome," Justin applauded, returning the smile she was giving him.

It was a rather strange sight to him; when he had first met her, she was as jittery as a June Bug, and as shy as a white rabbit. But around him, she seemed to be so confident and open with him. She then placed a pebble into his hand, "Now, you try," she said.

Gripping the pebble, Justin looked across the lake and tossed it, only for it to sink into the water. He sighed. He wasn't good at it, it seemed. "Sorry, guess I'm not much of a pitcher," Justin apologized with an embarrassed smile. Then suddenly, he felt Zazie standing behind him, and then she held his wrists.

"It's not all that hard, Justin," Zazie said as she pressed against him, "It's all in the wrists and the hip. You just have to flick your wrist when you get ready to throw it. And it doesn't hurt to help to sway your hip into it either."

but then, just as she was so close to him again, he felt pretty chilly again. It was always like this as he learned about this whenever he was this close to the new girl. The girl's body temperature was oddly cold for someone like her. He started to shiver a bit, but then he remembered something.

"Hey, Zazie, I'm really sorry to cut this short but I really gotta go," he apologized as he broke her hold gently, and started to walk away. "I'll see you again tomorrow, though. Same time today?"

"Oh no, you don't," she stated as she ran up behind him. She glomped onto his back, embracing him in a hug from behind, as she nuzzled her chin on his shoulder, smiling, "You can't leave just yet. You still need to work on your skipping. You can't get more than 3 skips, and I know you're not gonna practice much."

Justin just sighed on the outside, but on the inside, he was groaning with frustration at this stall. 'Ugh! At this rate, I'm not gonna be able to get to Leon. The session begins in thirty minutes and it's gonna take me thirty-five minutes just to get there. And then there's Courtney,' he gulped as he remembered that she wasn't the much patient type on this matter, 'She's the last person I wanna get angry with.' however, as his thoughts brooded on the matter, Zazie caught the look on his face. For some odd reason, she seemed to go silent, and her grip on him seemed to loosen a bit as she pulled away. A wave of confusion washed over him as Justin looked around to see Zazie just stand there, with her eyes shadowed from him, "Zazie?"

"You want to go back to that dreary Halloween Store?" questioned Zazie, as the wind and atmosphere around the lake began to get chilly all of a sudden. "No," Zazie stated as she looked up to Justin, and seemingly her breath was shown in the cold wind, as she let an icy smile appear on her face, "Rather… you want to see that girl, Courtney Keller, right?"

"Courtney?" Justin blinked. "She's my best friend. What's wrong with wanting to see her?"

As the two talked, icy winds began to blow all around them, as the lake was slowly, but almost fast enough, freezing over at this point. "Nothing's wrong with seeing friends, Justin," Zazie answered as she walked towards Justin, and stood almost six inches in front of him, "But if you were to go now, I'm not sure how you would take it if you saw that girl in the state she'll soon be in."

That last sentence made Justin pale and go wide eyed as he nearly scowled, "Wha? What are you gonna do with her?!"

She smiled placing a hand against his cheek, "Don't worry, I've taken care of her and soon you won't have to think about her ever again…" and as her fingers traced on his cheek, ice slowly began to form around them.

* * *

**Back at the Store**

Courtney and Oogie were both still in the Library room, silently waiting for the others to come back. Courtney was the only one at this point wide awake now, while Oogie slept for a bit. Sitting in a chair as she waited for everyone, including Justin, after she had finally gotten over her anger. "They're late," she mumbled. "Where could they be?" She then heard the door slide open. Smiling, she looked up to see if it was her friends. "Well it's about time you guys…" Her smile fell when she saw that it was that new girl in class today. "Zazie Halieday?" she asked nervously, and stood up from her seat, feeling an uneasy chill in the air at this point.

She stood behind the door; her back leaning on it as she looked at Courtney, completely silent. "Courtney Keller," she said as she stalked towards her. "I'm sorry to say but Justin won't be coming today," and as she walked towards her, drops of water were heard, and puddles were made, as she made her way to her.

Oogie, finally waking up, looked over to where the new girl and paled, "Holy…!"

FWOOSH! SNIKT!

Suddenly, Oogie was flung over to the wall, as he bobbed back and forth. When he finally shook his head, he and Courtney noticed all four of his tails were pinned to the wall… by an icicle. After seeing this, Oogie shouted out in pain, "HOLY! OUCH! JEEZ! THERE'S AN ICICLE IN MY FREAKIN' TAILS!!!"

After seeing he ice spike, Courtney was about to run towards Oogie and help him. But she couldn't do it, as she backed away in fear from Zazie approaching her. It even got worse as she felt the temperature drop. "Halieday, what's going on? Why are you…?"

"It's nothing personal, I just think it's better for Justin and I if you just…" She lunged forward and grabbed Courtney by the throat, squeezing tightly. The two then fell to the floor, with Courtney, flat on her back struggling, as Zazie was on top, using her weight to choke her further. The Fire Wiccan in training struggled to remove Zazie's cold grip from her throat "… disappear."

"Wha?" Courtney mumbled as she struggled to break free of her grip. "What are you…?"

"You're an eyesore," Zazie answered darkly as her grip slowly tightened, and stared at her with much intention to finish the job. "If you weren't around, Justin would be mine," her attitude then darkened as her voice dripped with envy at Courtney, "Even when I'm around, all he ever thinks about is you. I won't forgive you… I will _never_ forgive you…"

'Wh-What's going on?' Courtney thought as she began to feel her whole neck area go cold. Little did she know, but a small surface of ice began to freeze around her neck, and slowly crawl up her cheeks, 'What's with this girl? She's as cold as ice.' However, she wasn't about to let this girl just strangle her like that. She balled up her left fist, and shouted, "St-STOP IT!!!" and smashed her fist across her face.

Downstairs, Lilith and Elsa had just stepped out of the kitchen. That was when they heard the smashing sound from upstairs. Both girls looked up there in surprise as Lilith asked, "Did someone smash through a window?"

Back upstairs, both Courtney, and a still-in-pain Oogie, gasped and were in shock at what they were seeing at. The spot where Courtney had slugged her, shattered and was as ice. Her hair, even though was light violet, had suddenly turned as hard as ice and just as clear, even with the shattered end of her head. Clearly, this girl wasn't human at all, as Courtney squeaked out weakly, "Wha… what are you…?"

"Sorry, but I'm not the real Zazie," 'Zazie' apologized soullessly. "Though you've got to admit, it's a pretty good likeness for an Ice doll."

Courtney's gasp and wide eyes got even worse now as Zazie let her right hand loose. "Now, Courtney Keller," her hand suddenly shape-shifted into an ice blade, big enough to plunge deep into her chest, as she aimed for where her heart was, "…die quietly and just disappear from my sight. This way I can deliver my feelings to him quickly."

Courtney paled even more, until finally, with much winded effort, she screamed out, "Somebody… HEEEELP!!!"

* * *

**Back at the Lake**

Suddenly, Justin was thrown onto the now iced up lake with much force and effort. He slid across the icy surface, spinning around on his side. He tried to claw himself to stop on the ice, but it was no good. He only stopped on the ice as he slammed into a tree trunk that was floating on the ice, but now frozen in place. He groggily got up, but slipped a few times, until he was finally able to get on his knee as he looked up, "What do you mean? what did you do with Courtney?!"

"I told you, nothing… yet," Zazie calmly said dangerously, and slowly made her way onto the ice, walking on it with the grace of an angel, "But she won't be a problem for us any longer."

"She's my best friend!" Justin shot out dangerously to her.

"I'm sorry, Justin-sama, but you can't leave," Zazie said softly, "I can never let you leave me."

She walked along the white sheet of ice that was the lake, as suddenly, she began to transform. Large ice claws covered her hands while her hair seemed to turn to ice as well. Then suddenly, on her collar bone, three ice blue gems appeared like a necklace around her neck. A icy wind aura was all around her as she started to walk towards Justin, adding a slight mysterious side to her as she made her way to him.

"It won't due you any good to escape here," Zazie told him as he struggled back to his feet, "I can create and control ice of my own free will." Finally, Justin was able to get back up on his own two feet, as he was about to activate the Kinsmir Blade on ready. When suddenly, ice shot around him, encompassing his feet holding him in place. Then suddenly, some of the ice around him, turned into copies of Zazie's upper torso, as the copies spoke to him, "I can even make copies of myself through the ice."

Suddenly, the ice began to slowly creep up him, slowly encompassing his legs. As this happened, Justin nearly started to lose feeling in his feet and legs, "This is not good!"

"Don't worry," Zazie smiled gently as she walked towards him, "It'll only hurt for a moment, then we can be together." as she strode to him, ice stalagmites began to from behind her with every step of the way. She then stood right in front of him; her gentle smile still present on her face, "Justin, we were destined to meet. Because we're both loners, we were destined to be together; that's how we met." the Ice began to form around his chest, as Justin continued to struggle even more, as Zazie brought up one of her ice claws, and lightly traced his cheek, "We'll be able to understand one another; we'll warm each other's hearts."

"Damn it," Justin muttered to himself, as he tried to will the change. But he couldn't, as his mind was too focused on the cold at this moment.

"You sure are persistent," Zazie smiled as she traced her claw gently and caressingly on his cheek, "But as long as your body's frozen, you can't go anywhere." She then looked into his eyes, as the ice slowly began to cover his face now, "You're the only one for me… so that's why… please be mine."

"JUSTIN!!!"

That shout of a familiar goth girl got both teens' attention, as they looked from behind Zazie to see where it came from. There, flying at them at top speed, or at least the best way that she could, was Lilith, transformed into her Succubus form, carrying with her a transformed Elsa, and a still alive Courtney. In truth, Justin couldn't have been any happier, as she shouted out to him, "Justin, hang on! We're all coming!!!"

"Courtney!" Justin shouted out to her, happy as ever.

However, that happiness wasn't shared as Zazie seemed confused by this, "But how? My clone…"

"Was pretty much shattered," Lilith shouted back, sounding pretty proud of her work. "We heard some sort of shattering sound, and then Courtney's scream. Luckily we got there in time to shatter your clone," but then she turned to the side, as she grumbled with frustration, "Unfortunately, I had to use the cookie plate. Now all my love-laced cookies were destroyed. All that hard work for nothing."

Zazie's eyes squinted with silent rage and determination as she declared, "I won't let you separate us. Don't you dare hinder us!" she then stretched out her arms outward to the sides, and shouted, "DISAPPEAR!!!"

and suddenly, two walls of ice stalagmites shot out and stretched out to them, nearly piercing them in the process. But the girls were faster, as Lilith was able to dodge the spikes with ease. Until she ran into one of htem, well Elsa slammed into one of them, causing the trio of girls to come falling down on them. Luckily, they crashed into Justin, freeing him as he was sent sliding down the other end of the ice.

The girls were a bit strewn a bit, as Courtney tried to get up. Then suddenly, Zazie crouched down and grabbed Courtney by her hair forcefully, as she grabbed her hand, attempting to break the Ice girl's grip on her. However, Zazie's icy glare prevented her from breaking free, as she hissed at the goth girl, "Why should I give my Justin to an eyesore like you," she then lifted her free hand, allowing the ice claws to grow and sharpen to dangerous blades as she flexed them, "I'll kill you, here and now. So please, die this time, okay?" Courtney paled at this, unable to summon her power at this point as Zazie lifted her claws, getting ready for the blow, "Now die!"

"Wait, don't!" Justin shouted out to her, stopping Zazie in her spot, as he slowly got back onto his feet, "Don't hurt her!"

"But I have to. Why are you defending her?" Zazie asked, unhinged but seemingly innocent in her decision, "If it's you, then you should understand how it feels to be lonely, just like me."

"But that's just it, I'm not lonely," Justin finally answered.

"Justin…" Zazie whispered, feeling pain in her heart as she was close to tears, "I thought… I thought that you of all people, would've understood me." She then looked at him, with a tear going down her cheek, and suddenly freeze up, "Don't tell me… you're rejecting my feelings?" she shivered a bit, unable to cope with the feeling of rejection, until finally, she shouted out to the sky, "JUSTIIIIIIN!!!" And allowed her claws to come slamming down towards Courtney.

Suddenly, in a flash of silver and brown, Courtney disappeared, when Zazie slammed her claws into the ground to where Courtney was supposed to be at. But then, to her surprise, she was gone, as she only slain the after image. When Zazie realized this, she noticed the tracks that had been left to where the blurs originated from. She followed them, to see only two figures, one in which holding Courtney in his hand.

It was none other than Leon, in his werewolf state, holding Courtney in one of his arms, looking canine and rather heroic. And next to him was Justin, transformed by the Kinsmir Blade, and with his greaves and shoes transformed into wolf hind legs, enabling him to go as fast as Leon.

The wolf boy smirked at Courtney as he winked, "So who's your hero, eh?"

"Leon," and she turned towards Justin, "… and Justin. I'm glad we got here in time."

Suddenly, they were bombarded by a huge ice storm, that nearly caused the happy moment to go bye bye. The storm was coming from Zazie, as her left hadn was held up in the air. Circling around her palm were icy winds and snow, blazing into a whirlwind of a snow blizzard. As the winds blew, creating immense and intense cold and snow, Zazie pointed out, speaking clearly through the winds, "You made a big mistake in getting in the way of my romance. For that… you get the Big Chill."

"Then allow me to bring on the Big Heat for you," Courtney pointed out as she hopped to the ground.

Leon just went gaga for Courtney as he usually did, and gushed out, "Oh, Courtney, My dark princess. Even though that didn't make sense, you still sound as serene as the wind on a moonlit sky."

Courtney just sweat dropped at this as she mumbled, "Note to self: Later on, if we survive this... neuter the wolf."

She sighed as her right eye glowed with power, as her hands were engulfed in balls of flames. Then, in a quick motion, she stretched her arms to the sides, creating a massive ring of fire around them. Then the ring shot outward, melting the ice winds as well as bringing on a little heat around the area. As the ice melted slightly, Courtney stood on her ground, with her ring and her necklace gems glowing blazing red, as did her right eye and hands as she looked at Zazie, very PO'ed.

"Too hot," Zazie mumbled as she shielded her face from the heat radiating off her target.

"And it's about to get a whole lot hotter!" Courtney growled as she flared, making her fire even larger. The high temperatures were causing the ice to crack all over the lake.

"Nnn!" Zazie gasped, backing away from the heat. "Stop it. Please! STOP IT!!!"

Waving her hand, Zazie sent waves of ice at the flaming hot Wiccan girl, hoping to extinguish her fire. However, the now arriving to the scene Elsa and Lilith weren't going to allow any of that. Kneeling on the gorund in front of Courtney, Lilith grew her wings out and flapped powerful gusts that sent the winds aside. Even Elsa helped out a bit as she smashed the icicle projectiles into ice bits. And adding in to the fight, Courtney stepped up and fired two continuous streams of fire. The two opposing elemental forces hit each other, creating a huge cloud of steam.

"Too hot, too hot, TOO HOT!!!" Zazie trembled as she recoiled from the steam. She figured that the Keller girl was just some ordinary mortal human that she could easily get rid of. But she never expected her to be a Wiccan, let alone one in control of such a terrifying element as fire: her one true weakness.

"Seems a little on the cool side to me," Courtney commented as she walked through the cloud of steam. It was then that all the confidence shattered as she saw Zazie. She was curled up into a ball, trembling and tried to shield herself from the heat radiating from the alien in front of her.

"Oh," Courtney stated, realizing that not only was she beating her, but hurting her as well, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Just leave me alone," Zazie whispered out, until she finally looked up, with tears streaming down her cheeks as she shouted, "ALL OF YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALOOOONE!!!"

And with that, a huge whirlwind of snowy wind encircled Zazie, and in an instant, she disappeared without a trace. The teens were a little confused by this scene, until they all heard a cracking sound from beneath them all. And then suddenly, the ice under their feet gave way, and they all took a dip in the ice water.

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Amityville Junior High**

"A Snow Girl?" Alex asked in complete confusion.

It was yet another day at high school, with the whole NightBumpers, as Alex had once joked them to be called, were all sitting on the football field bleachers. After the incident involving Zazie, Courtney and the others had all gathered to research on her monster type. Although it didn't take long, as Courntey had discovered an entry in the Book of Goosebumps, and there, they had found her monster type summed up in two words: Snow Woman.

On the page that Courntey had found the info, an illustration, like the Haunted Mask section, was present. The illustration was that of a snow white skinned girl, with ice white hair, dressed in a white but loose kimono. She was kneeling in a snow covered area, while holding on to white roses. She looked peaceful as the illustration showed her smelling the flowers. The girl's portrait gushed with radience and beauty; it was pretty made evident for the three boys as they blushed up the whazoo at this scene.

However, ignoring that, Courtney read the passage aloud as to explain the creature's behavior, "Snow Women, or Yuki Onna, as they're called, hail from Japan mythology. They're known to always be women that appear in extreme snow blizzards, freezing wandering travelers and taking boys or men that catch their fancy. They're masters at controlling ice and snow, creating snow storms and blizzards at will. Although they do these things, they're not considered to be evil, they're more likely just extremely lonely."

"That girl that attacked us? Lonely?" Lilith huffed at this as she crossed her arms, "I think crazy stalker psycho's the best description for her."

However, the look on Courtney's face, was no longer one of fear, or worry of this girl attacking them. But in retrospect, it was one of understanding, for if anyone knew what it was like to feel completely alone… it was her.

* * *

**Teacher's Office**

"Where Miss Halieday lives?" one of the teachers present there asked curiously.

It was after class the following day and the team were visiting the faculty room where most of the teachers got their paperwork done. It had been pretty easy to find where Zazie's councilor teacher, Miss Nekomimi's desk was. She was the only one whose short blonde hair was mysteriously stylized into a pair of cat ears. That, for Courtney, was by far the weirdest thing she had ever seen.

"Yeah" Courtney nodded. "'It's just that we're all a little worried about Zazie."

"Oh, now that's just very sweet of you, Miss Keller!" Ms. Nekomimi smiled. "I know exactly where she stays; she lives in one of the town's apartment complexes. She left her information with the school in case of an emergency with her or her little sister."

"Wait, she has a sister?" Courtney asked, not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. 'I just hope she's a bit… nicer than her older sister,' she thought to herself in a gulp of worry.

"Indeed," Ms. Nekomimi nodded, "I can give you the apartment building she's staying at as well as their room number."

"Really?" Justin beamed, considering that he needed to apologize to her as well. "That would help a lot to all of us."

"You sure you twerps wanna do that?" asked a rough voice asked from behind.

Ms. Nekomimi, Justin, and Courtney looked up to see who had been talking. They all found themselves looking at a man somewhere between his twenties and early thirties, who was wearing track suit pants and a sleeveless shirt. His skin was tanned and he had red hair, but a dead giveaway of his appearance, were the dark circles under his eyes, almost as if the guy had trouble sleeping at night. He appeared to be someone who thought they were slick. There was also something in his eyes that Courtney didn't like. For her, the look in his eyes just read: Scumbag.

"She's dangerous, you know," the man continued. "A really unstable girl."

"Mr. Krakyn?" Ms. Nekomimi blinked.

"Mr. Krakyn?" Courtney asked albeit confused.

"Oh, how rude of me," Ms. Nekomimi insinuated as she tried to make the proper introductions. "This is Mr. Krakyn, he's our PE teacher. I'm glad you're out of the hospital so soon."

"Nice to know I was missed," he then turned towards the kids as they had questioned looks on their faces to him. "I'm just saying she's trouble," Krakyn shrugged, almost knowing exactly what they wanted to know. "You know why she was gone so long, kids?"

"She was sick, wasn't she?" asked Justin.

"That's the cover story," Krakyn chuckled, making them feel a bit uneasy. "You see, she attacked a teacher, apparently for no reason. She just snapped all of a sudden."

"Huh?" Courtney blinked, as did Justin as the two looked to each other to silenly confirm this. The way he said it, it just didn't sound right, not right at all about Zazie. Sure, Zazie seemed to resort to violence, but only when there was a real reason. She didn't attack for no reason.

Justin looked to Krakyn and asked in an almost detective manner, "Are you sure about that? Maybe it was a mistake…"

"Heck yeah I'm sure," Krakyn chuckled. "You see, _I_ was the teacher she attacked; it was around last year or so. Put me down for a while too; had a huge stay at the hospital, not that I'm complainin', in that it gave me some good old leave and vacation pay."

Both Courtney and Justin observed that this didn't look too badly hurt for someone trying to play off being injured by Zazie. In fact, he seemed rather better than okay, considering the fact that it had probably been a year. And if anyone knew it, then it would be impossible to be remain injured for a whole freakin' year. And what irked Courtney more about this guy, was that he also seemed to be enjoying telling the story about how Zazie had attacked him. And she couldn't prove it or put her finger on it, but he was also leaving out a lot of detail from his story. Like where he was attacked and what he was doing there in the first place… or why she really attacked him at all.

"She's escalating too," Krakyn continued. "Why just lat night, two students were attacked near the football field. They got frozen in ice and looked cut up pretty badly. They might have died if we didn't find 'em."

"Huh?" Justin gaped. "But…!"

"No mistake, kids," Krakyn snickered. "The ice was pretty unmistakable. There's talk of Halieday getting expelled, or arrested, since she's so dangerous."

"But…but, how are we sure it's her?" asked Courtney, "And secondly, how do you even know it was her? I mean, how could she just freeze people up like that? It's not like she's Mr. Freeze's girl."

"She's got a thing for the ice," Krakyn answered. "It's gotta be her, no questions asked. Who else could it be?"

"She can't be the only one here who'd do stuff like that," Justin tried to argue. "I've looked and talked to her before, and she couldn't have done anything like that."

"Yeah," Courtney tried to defend her, "I mean, she's got a few emotional problems with rejection, but I doubt she just goes off and hurts people for it."

"Ohhhh! That's a good point!" Ms. Nekomimi gasped.

"And all this starts up the night of the day she gets back here?" asked Krakyn with a frown. "Sorry, but I know a troublemaker when I see one."

"Well…it could just be a coincidence," Justin attempted to retort. "Weird stuff happens here all the time."

"I'm an eyewitness to that," Courtney commented. "I got here a few months ago, and a whole lotta freaky stuff's been happening around here." she then looked the other way and grumbled in her thoughts, 'Though I'm likely to blame for all that.'

"You know…" another teacher, Rachel Kuningham, spoke up. She had been overhearing the conversation. Rachel was a sexy teacher who wore short skirts and let her cleavage show. She was also incredibly beautiful, with dark brown hair cut to her shoulders, with full red lips and always with a sway in her hips as she walked. And her outfit wasn't made to avert stares either, considering she wore a white blouse and a black mini-skirt. "These students make a very good argument and a good point. Plenty of odd things happen out here with so many different monsters grouped together."

Krakyn started to become agitated, "Hey, are you forgetting that she attacked me about a year ago? Can we really let that go? The fact she hasn't said anything speaks for her guilt!"

"Well, it's pretty obvious she won't talk to you," Courtney answered. "Maybe she's afraid to for some reason. Justin and I might be able to get her side of the story." She nodded to Justin especially to emphasize her point, "Mostly Justin."

"Oooh! You're right!" Ms. Nekomimi smiled brightly. She quickly scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it over to the young teens. "Here you go! I wish you both success."

"Thanks," Courtney smiled. She eyed Krakyn for a second before they both headed for the exit of the room. She was starting to feel that something was up and if they didn't do something soon, Zazie was going to get seriously hurt. As the two teens were leaving though, Krakyn was staring at their backs with a frown.

'Those two are going to be trouble,' he frowned.

* * *

**Apartment Complex**

* * *

"Just for the record, you two, I think this might not be such a hot idea," Leon suggested as he followed Courtney and Justin along for the visit. In truth, he was more concerned for Courtney's safety, considering that she tried to kill her. "Let's not forget she'd try to seduce and kill you," then turned to Justin, "Not to mention that she was trying to flash freeze Justin."

"And have you not forgotten what she did to me," Oogie stated as he popped up from Courtney's backpack. He brought out his tails, showing the bandages on the tips, "She practically pierced my tails with ice picks!"

"I know that," Courtney nearly shot out, until her shoulders slumped a bit, "I know what she tried to do to us."

Then Leon shot out with concern, "Then why are you guys bothering to…"

"Because it's pretty obvious from the way she acted, Zazie's not as bad a person," Justin began, defending both Courtney's word, as well as Zazie herself. "She and Courtney might as well be sisters. Both girls are just lonely and misunderstood." He and Courtney both knew what that was like, too so he could understand her.

Leon looked to them, and sighed, knowing full well what that was like as well. Loneliness and being misunderstood could warp a person in ways you couldn't even imagine. When he first discovered he was a werewolf, he pretty much felt pretty isolated. Completely feeling hopelessness in that he'd never have friends, like Justin, let alone find that special someone to call his Alpha Female.

In the end, he sighed in defeat as he shrugged, "I suppose you're right."

Oogie huffed as he crossed his arms before going back into the book bag, "Yeah, well, I'm still cross about the tail piercing."

Courtney had to chuckle at that little part, and would have to make it up to him later on. Although this would have to have the entire group involved, she hadn't told the others that just the three of them were going to see Zazie. They would freak if she had gone by herself, so he decided to go at it with Oogie, Justin, and Leon, just in case there would be trouble. It was probably best that way. Zazie may not want to see so many people at once since yesterday.

When they finally arrived at the outside room at the apartment complex, Justin stood at Zazie's door, with the plaque reading room 1408. "OK, Zazie, it's time we talked," he said to himself.

"And just in case," Courtney said as she stood behind Justin. The two boys looked at her in confusion as she replied, "Hey, I'm just a little freaked out that she tried to kill me. But from the way she reacted when I used my flames, I'm pretty sure she's a bit freaked out about me."

Justin nodded as he turned his attention back to the door. His hand went to the knob but then he recoiled from the sudden child. "Yeesh! It's cold." Well, she was a yuki onna, or Snow Woman, so it was probably normal for her door knob to be cold.

He tried again and it turned easily. "It's unlocked," Justin observed. He pushed the door open and an arctic breeze greeted him. Luckily the room wasn't covered in ice, it was just cold winded, due to probably the AC cranked down to nearly sub-zero temperatures. But in odd sense, the room was pretty clean for a girl who was just dumped like that. Usually, the place would have been torn asunder; most girls would throw and break everything in sight. Guess in retrospect this proved that Zazie was a bit more reserved in he broken heart.

"Zazie?" He called out as he, Courtney, and Leon went inside, searching for the Snow Girl. "Are you in here?" Not getting an answer, they all explored the place and ended up in her living room. As Leon walked around, he heard a crack as he stepped onto something and looked down to see a framed photograph. He picked it up and despite the cracks nearly covering the photo, he could see it was a picture of Justin.

The others came up and grouped around him, taking a look at the picture. From the looks of it, it was a picture of Justin, turning the corner and not even realizing that he was being photographed.

Justin looked at the picture closely, and pointed out, "Hey, I remember this. This was from last year."

"Guess she's been crushing on me for awhile," muttered Leon. He then returned a comical glare at him as he growled, "I'm still a bit miffed that now you've got another girl crushing over you like this. And apparently, this one's had it for a whole year."

"Can we please focus on something else at this point?" Courtney pointed out, trying to get them to focus back on their original goal. "We've gotta try and find her." The trio exited the room and closed the door behind them before going on the search.

* * *

**Lake Crystal**

Zazie was just standing at the edge of the lake, with a lot on her mind while she still had depression written all over her face. It would appear that she was alone once again. Justin didn't want to see her anymore. His friends had all seen what she tried to do, and were now probably out to find her. She just couldn't believe that he was some sort of hybrid monster, let alone friends with a werewolf, a succubus, a gestalt, or even a Wiccan. A very scary Wiccan with the elemental power of fire: her worst enemy. And now, she doubted anybody would want to see her ever again.

She had done some very serious and hard thinking. Maybe she shouldn't have attacked Keller and maybe she shouldn't have tried to freeze Justin. But, even though she had brought her sister with her, she was just so lonely for friendship… and maybe love… and well he seemed the same way too. Too bad she was wrong.

"Well, lookie what we've got here," a voice called out from behind her.

She whipped around, just to get pushed on to the ground by four punks. They grabbed at her as she shouted, "Stop it! Let me go!"

"Now, now," the lead punk chimed out viciously as he forced her to the ground, with her back to them. "We heard from someone that you're a pretty lonely little thing." he then got a good grip from behind her shirt, as a lecherous smile spread across his face, as well as a crazy look in his eyes, "… so we all thought: Let's get that shyness outta ya!" and ripped the back open, exposing her back.

Zazie screamed out, with tears across her face, "NOOOOO!!!"

"Hey!" a huge growl and howling voice roared out as suddenly, a brow blur charged right at them.

The goons were all knocked on the other end, as a shadow loomed over Zazie. When she was done grabbing onto her shirt, making sure that it wouldn't fall off, she looked up, and saw a familiar Timberwolf Lycan looking down upon her. It was Leon as he growled at the goons, protecting Zazie, "As much as I'd love to tear a girl's clothes off, what you're doing is sick and against a gentleman's code."

"Who's this clown?" one of the goons asked.

"Whoever he is, he's dead!" their leader shouted, as suddenly, they started to change. Their normal human appearances were replaced by what appeared to be humanoid crawfish like creatures. Their claws snapped together viciously as the leader shouted, "GET HIM!"

"And that's my cue," Leon muttered out, as in a blur, he left Zazie.

He jumped straight into the forest, with the Crabboids following behind him, scurrying after him. The little buggers were tearing through the forest, chopping up anything that got in their path. Clearing through the foliage and the trees as if they were paper or pretzels. When they reached a clearing, they finally spotted the wolf boy as the leader shouted, "There he is, now get the werewolf!" however, they all paled, realizing that he wasn't alone. Not alone at all.

"You scumbag lechers," Courtney gritted her teeth, with Oogie perched on her shoulder glaring at the crab people. In her hands, to her right side, another powerful fire blast was building up. Her fire blast, or her Sun Spot as she called it, was building up with tremendous power as her hands were slightly steaming from such the building up of fire and heat. She then reared back a bit as she shouted, "I'll teach you to force yourselves on a girl!!!"

Finally, after building enough fire, the ball was around the size of a basketball. She then gritted her teeth, and threw the ball straight at the Crabboids. The ball had the speed of a missile as it shot right at them, exploding on impact and engulfing the Crab People in a massive ball of flame, cooking them until they were red and plump. The Crabboids let out one final howl of pain as they came crashing through the forest and onto the ground, and went as limp and dead as doornails.

Zazie saw the whole thing, and even saw the explosion of fire that shot out of the forest. The Crabboids were sent flying down and skidding on the ground. The snow girl was looking at the whole scene in surprise, whispering to herself, 'Keller? Blake? They all came… to help me?'

"Well, well, well," she heard a voice, giving her chills down her spine. "Alone again, huh, Halieday?" immediately, Zazie spun around and saw the gym teacher, Krakyn. "Personally, I thought those Crabboids were gonna hold them off a bit longer, but I guess I'll have to finish things up here."

"Mr. …Krakyn?" Zazie scooted away from the grinning teacher.

"You know, it's funny what kind of card life deals you," he said as he approached her, grinning lecherously, "You said you liked me and then you attacked me."

"You were taking advantage of me. You were gonna rape me," she defended. "I didn't like it."

"Well, nobody was going to believe you anyway," he said. "I mean it's a teacher's word against a student's." He finished, "That's why you were hiding you and your sister for a whole year, and now you're doing the same thing." He then lunged at her and pinned her to the ground. She tried to get him off her, but it was no use, he was overpowering her.

She struggled against him, "Let me go! Let me go!!" she demanded.

"Oh, don't be like that," he licked his lips, and an insane perverted glint appeared in his eyes. "Just let me do whatever I want and I'll put in a good word for you. Heck, I'll even leave your little sister alone, wherever she is. How's that?"

Zazie's eyes blazed with fury after that threat to her sister popped up from his mouth. And she was about to attack him when all of a sudden a large rock smashed into the back of Krakyn's head. Zazie blinked and then looked up to see Justin.

"Stay away from her, you creep!" Justin shouted.

"Justin?" Zazie blinked in confusion. He'd come for her?

"Zazie, get away!" Justin shouted. "I'll take care of this pervert!"

Zazie nodded and was ready to run when all of a sudden a reddish purple octopus' tentacle wrapped around her ankle and tripped her. "Ah! NOOOOO!!!"

Suddenly, in a flash, the tentacle burst into flames down the middle, causing it to break in half. This caused the tentacle that held Zazie to let go of her, as Leon and Courtney joined them. Zazie, as she got up, while still holding her torn shirt in place, looked at them all stunned by this, "You… you all came here… to help me?"

Leon just gave her a trademark smirk as he winked, "Of course. That's what us strapping heroes have to do."

It was at this point, she was close to tears as she whimpered, her tears slowly crystallizing, "Even… after all… that I've…"

She started to sniff and almost go on the verge of crying, until something unexpected happened ot her. Courtney walked up to her, and surprising the snow girl, hugged her. The goth Wiccan pulled away from her for a moment, until she pulled away for a moment, and smiled at Zazie, "You've been alone, with no friends. Always trying to put on a shy tough act," but then her smile brightened a bit, as she finished, "But… you don't have to be alone, Zazie. Because, well… you've got all of us. Your friends."

"And I'm not alone either," Justin stated as he patted her on the shoulder, "Courtney was my first friend ever. Following after her, we've both gained so many friends all around."

"But… but what does that have to do with…?"

"Well, that's why…" Courtney started, with an honest smile to the snow girl. "… be our friend, Zazie."

When she heard those very words utter from out of her lips, Zazie's tears strode down her cheeks. She shut them tightly, and embraced Courtney and the others, letting out sobs of joy to this moment.

"Oh, that's so touching," said Krakyn as he sneered. The teens turned around at the lake, as they saw him standing in the water, with his back hunched over as he smirked, "So, Keller… you were able to wipe out five of the goons I hired with one blast. That's quite impressive for a teenage girl."

Courtney sneered at the coach teacher, and broke Zazie's hug on her as she formed a fire ball in her hand. With a mighty swing, she tossed it right at him, burning a portion of his chest in the process. But they all stopped as they saw him just smiling and caclking as he shot out, "Nice toss, Keller. A few more practices, and you'll hit Softball Season without any problems at all." he then looked at them, with his eyes changed into yellow, and his irisis and pupils resembling ovals instead of circles, "But I'm a whole new league of my own!"

His entire formed change and now he was in his true form: a Kraken. His true from looked like he had a giant octopus attached to the back of his body. With the octopus' head acting a s cowl over his head and the tentacles swinging about in the back and sides. Even his own arms had turned into tentacles with suction cups and beak claws that could shred a can into bits. And now… he looked really pissed off.

"Oh no, you don't!" Justin shouted as he ran over to the side, but then a tentacle smashed into him and sent him to the ground. Leon was about to after him, but then suddenly, a huge glop of oil blanketed him, entrapping him into a sticky substance of sorts.

Courtney saw this as she shouted out, attempting to burn the goo, "Don't worry, Leon! I'll get…"

"Wait, hold up!" Oogie shouted, stopping Courtney in her tracks, "Burn it and you'll cook Wolf Boy over there instead of neutering him!"

Courtney paled at this as she squeaked, "Oh, Bollocks! That's right!"

Suddenly, a four barrage of tentacles shot right at the two girls and boogie monster. Suddenly, they were scooped up by an unseen force that leapt with them outta the way. They stopped as the tentacles shot right into the wall, and the two girls looked to their rescuer. "Hi, guys. What's up?" a familiar voice was heard.

Courtney looked and saw that it was Elsa that had saved them in the nick of time. "Elsa," Courtney chimed with joy at this.

"You little bitch!" roared Krakyn. However, instead of keeping his eyes on the girls, he turned his attention to the only mortal around them: Justin Seyvont. He smirked at this as he announced, "Since you won't cooperate with threats for your sister, Halieday…" His tentacles lashed out and wrapped around Justin's body, "I'll just settle with your little crush here!"

"Justin, no!" both Courtney and Zazie shouted.

Justin was lifted off the ground, and slowly being crushed to death. As Krakyn's tentacles were squeezing the life out of him. The red haired Kraken who happened to be the school's gym teacher was trying to kill him. "You human mortals are so weak," Krakyn sneered. "What's the matter, Seyvont, lost your breath?"

"Screw…you!" Justin managed to utter.

Krakyn's face curled into a mask of fury as he continued to crush Justin Seyvont. His teeth sharpened and his pupils nearly disappeared as he snarled in anger and hatred. He would teach this damn mortal boy how to respect his teachers. His plan was cut short when he howled out in pain as a sudden chill froze his tentacles solid. They became brittle and with some effort, Justin was able to break them and escape.

"Justin!" Zazie cried out as she ran to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," he gasped. "Never better. Now, Zazie, get back to Courtney and Elsa while I take care of calamari-face here."

Zazie looked regretful. Justin and the others were trying to help her even after what she tried to do before. Now, it was her turn to help them. However, that didn't come, as Krakyn swatted her aside as he attempted again to try and get to them both again. However, that changed as soon as the Kinsmir came back to life, and encompassed Justin as it transformed into its armored form, along with Justin's silver hair and black and yellow canine eyes. Only one of the tentacles grabbed Justin's left arm, which now was only transformed with an armor clawed gauntlet, instead of covering the entire arm.

"Ha! You don't look so tough!" Krakyn crowed, "You may now be a monster, but you're just a weakling!"

"Looks…can be deceiving," Justin spoke in a snarled tone.

That was when he unfurled his four Doctor Octopus tentacles. before Krakyn could make a move, Justin let the tentacles throw him high in the air. The tentacles then shot back behind him, and attacked to the Omega glyph, the tentacles twisted and merged together to form his trademark metallic and organic, jagged-sharp batwings that stretched out fourteen feet, as they flapped out.

What others would see was a demon, but Zazie saw something else.

"An angel," Zazie gasped, entranced by Justin's new appearance.

Flapping his giant wings, Justin shot out his samurai wrist mounted blade, sliced Krakyn's tentacle, and took to the skies. Enraged, the gym teacher attempted to strike him with his tentacles, but to no avail. When he was high enough, Justin swooped down and started his attack on Krakyn who lashed out with his tentacles. However, Justin just spun through them and once he did they were all carved up into sushi.

"Gack!" Krakyn cried as he felt his tentacles falling to the ground.

"That musta hurt," joked Justin as he landed on the ground.

Krakyn growled angrily, his mouth foaming with drool as he shouted, "DIEEEEE!!!" and was aobut to lunge at the boy, until he realized he couldn't move an inch.

He realized that the lake had completely froze over, along with his feet as well. He looked to the other shore, and saw Zazie Halieday, being held by Elsa and Courtney for support. There, Zazie's hand was on top of the water; the source to where the water was being frozen at. He had fallen for a trap, by just staying in one spot, unable to move… and unable to evade the next attack.

He heard two forms of growling as he looked forward towards his front. Both an enraged Justin, and a now freed Leon, charged right at him in blinding speed, with their claws, and Justin's blades, at the ready. In a quick flash by the two of them, they slashed at Krakyn's body to ribbons. Blood and oil shot out into the water, as he screamed and gargled in pain as he crashed into the iced water, sinking into a bottom of oil soaked water.

* * *

**A Week Later **

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

**Upstairs Lounge**

In the days after the fight, what Krakyn did to Zazie was exposed, turning his reputation to mud, and have him disappear out of sight. Under normal circumstances, he might have been fired, but after the thorough beating he had received, his sentence was lightened. Of course, he had lost respect with most of his fellow teachers. However, before the police could take him in for questioning as well as charges, Krakyn had disappeared without a trace to follow him by. Those in the Newspaper Club were celebrating their victory and good deed. But at the Halloween Store, an even bigger celebration had begun.

"Cheers!" they all cheered as they gave cheers.

"To a major scoop!" Alex smiled. He hadn't had such an incredible story since he first joined the Newspaper Club in his first year.

"And we have Justin to thank for it!" Lilith smiled as she leaned against said boy's shoulder. "Without him, we never would have found out about it!"

Courtney grumbled as she slouched by her shoulders, muttering, "What am I, chopped liver?"

"But how did you know where to go in the first place?" wondered Elsa.

"Well, there was something about that Krakyn that rubbed me the wrong way," Courtney explained. "He seemed to almost be amused with telling how Zazie attacked him. He was also leaving a lot of details out of the story. Not to mention he was getting mad when Justin and I started defending her. So I called Leon and Alex and asked them both in not only to help us find Zazie, but also to dig up any dirt on Krakyn."

"If there's one thing Leon's great at, it's finding cute girls," Alex snickered. "When he got on the trail of Zazie, I called up the others and let them know. Of course, when we got there Mr. Krakyn was already attacking. So Courtney and everyone else went to do the hero stuff and I decided to collect evidence." He then shrugged, "Of course, I had to edit a few of the more 'monstrous' detailed features."

"How noble," said Lilith.

Both Courtney and Justin smiled and suddenly sneezed as they felt a chill. "I think someone should close the window. There's a draft," Justin suggested.

"That wasn't coming from the window," Oogie said and he pointed at the door. It was at that time, they all turned to see Zazie at the door.

Justin blinked. "Zazie?"

Oogie, Alex, and Lilith backed away from the Snow Girl who entered. Standing up, Justin and Courtney went to greet her, "Zaziie, what brings you here?"

Zazie just smiled as she ran up to the two and hugged them both. "I'd like to thank you again for before, for sticking up for me," and then she turned her attention ot Justin as she embraced him deeply, "And for helping me as well, my beautiful angel." He shivered at the contact.

"Hey, get off him!" Lilith shouted, but suddenly she was flash-frozen in a block of ice.

"Zazie!" gasped Justin.

"Sorry, but old habits die hard," Zazie spoke casually, as if nothing happened. She then turned her attention over to Stranger, but she didn't release her grip on Justin. "Also, I wanted to join your team. I've heard about the Book of Goosebumps and the beasts, monsters, and fiends that were unleashed. I want to help in retrieving those that got loose."

"You do?" everyone, aside from the still-emotionless Stranger, asked as they all blinked. Everyone else were surprised at Zazie's sudden desire to join the team.

"It's very lively and…I don't want to be alone."

"Well, welcome to the club!" Leon grinned. "We welcome anybody!"

"Yeah," Alex snickered as he continued to clean his camera's lens. "Anybody you wanna try and date. That or cope a feel with."

Courtney, on the other hand, frowned, not liking how Mizore was hanging off Ben, but she knew what Ben was like so she allowed it. He was just too nice sometimes.

Justin, however, was shivering as his teeth chattered due to hugging him. He would become a popsicle if this went on.

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Take a Toll Under a Bridge**

* * *

Sorry for the late update, but once again. Profiles:

**Name**: Zazie Halieday

**Age**: 15

**Hair**: Ice Violet

**Eyes**: Ice blue

**Likes**: ice sculpting, ice skating, cherry blossoms, stalking Justin, flower arrangements, her sister, Arte

**Dislikes: **Fire, Krakyn, being alone, being rejected

**Family**: Parents (unknown); Arte: adopted sister

**Background**: She was at first portrayed as a lonely, somewhat depressed, and misunderstood girl, but after meeting Justin Seyvont and becoming friends with everyone, she actually becomes a very outgoing, popular, and cute girl. She is often seen "stalking" and hiding in different locations, and it is portrayed in a humorous and cute way. Also, she gets into comedic arguments with Lilith, and later on Dante often, and they are often seen butting heads, although they are good friends. A running gag in the story is Zazie shooting ice projectiles whenever a girl and Justin have a tender moment together, and her always showing up in weird or otherwise random places unexpectedly, often for humorous effect.

Later on in the story, we discover that Snow Women cannot have children after a certain age and Zazie is almost married off to a evil because of her village's practices, however, as expected she is rescued by Justin and the others.

But before all the events taking place, Zazie tried to gain the interest of a boy that once got lost in the mountains by her home village. However, when he found out that she was a Yuki-onna, he ran in terror, never to be seen again.

Until later on…

When we are first introduced to Zazie we find out that she also tried to gain the interest of Mr. Krakyn (the Gym teacher), who once told Zazie that he loved her. Zazie fell in love with Krakyn, he then tried to rape her, so she turned him into ice; in fact, Krakyn is the teacher he refers to when he tells Courtney and Justin the story of Zazie. He tells the two that she is a nuisance, annoying, and should also be removed from the school; this also plays into why she is so shy. Finally, when the group goes to bring her back to school they get attacked by Krakyn, as well as a group of thugs he hires, and end up defeating him, which then makes her fall into the Nightbumpers' growing team, as well as fall for Justin even further.

**Personality**: She was at first portrayed as a lonely, somewhat depressed, and misunderstood girl, but after meeting Justin Seyvont and becoming friends with everyone, she actually becomes a very outgoing, popular, and cute girl. A running gag in the series is Zazie shooting ice projectiles whenever a girl and Justin have a tender moment together, and her always showing up in weird or otherwise random places unexpectedly, often for humorous effect

**Powers**: She has the ability to control snow and ice at will, and while doing so, shapes claws of ice around her hands. She can also make almost perfect copies (albeit fragile) of herself and others with the ice, often used as decoys or reinforcements in the story. She is very powerful when she uses ice. Her Ice claws become more powerful after her training, and obtains the ability to freeze any body of water around her.

**Concept**: Zazie was concocted from a mixture of Mizore from Rosario Vampire, and Eureka from Eureka Seven


	22. Don't Go Under the Basement pt4

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 21: Don't Go Under the Basement; Thorns Among Friends pt.2**

* * *

**Amityville Junior High **

**Nighttime**

The school was just as scary as it would be to any freshmen on their first day in the very school they would step in as it was nighttime. The school was as dark as it could ever be, seeing as how it was closed for the night. The eeriness of it being empty would make anyone feel unsettled. The darkened halls only lit up by the moonlight that shined on in, lighting up circles down the hallways of doors and lockers. If there had been anybody there, they'd be scared enough to die just on the spot. Although, it'd be easier if there were others crowded around; it was scarier just to have it empty, quiet, and dark in the night, or on a stormy night.

However, there was one brave soul pushing a Cadillac of water and a swab down the hallway, along with other cleaning supplies. His names was Mr. Jones, a Caucasian Man of forty, grayish brown hair, wearing a janitor's uniform, and in a grouchy mood as he pushed the cart down the hallway. He didn't have the glamorous life as a janitor; sure he had a place to sleep and eat, but he didn't have a retirement plan, not even a pay raise. So for this man, being grouchy and grumpy was his way of showing that he wasn't too thrilled with his lifestyle.

As he carted his way down the hall, he didn't notice from within the roof ventilation, slithering movement from within the vent grates. He didn't even bother to notice a leaf snapping off the vent as it floated down on the ground, gently landing on the smooth tile floor. But that wasn't what caught his attention: what caught it, was the opened door with light poking through a small crack coming out of it. And if that wasn't enough, there were strange crashing sounds going on in there. Not to mention the track of ooze coming out of the crack and the floor. This just wasn't his night as he carted faster to it.

Then, he stopped as he looked to the door, and shouted, "Hey! Who's in there?" No one replied, but the crashing and breaking sounds continued, irking the janitor. "You teenagers had better not be sneaking in here and makin' out on the floor! Damn stains'll never get out." He huffed as he grabbed a mop and stomped towards the door, "I'll teach you all to mess around with Montgomery James Jo…"

He opened the door fast and easy, but froze flat in his tracks as he went bug eyed and freaked out at what he was just witnessing. A strange green light glowed at him, until finally… he screamed, "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The door closed behind him, as his silhouette was pulled downward, with even louder crashing sounds, as well as his sounds of struggling. Finally, it was silent, and the light disappeared, leaving no signs of life from Mr. Jones, nor whatever it was that got him.

* * *

**That Night**

**Elsewhere**

**Noygog Chemicals**

Noygog Chemicals

Once a toxic waste plant, using mutagen waste as a source of power, but it had cleaned up since then. Now, it was in the business of creating mulch, fertilizers, and other plant-based products. Super products that would grown plants, fruits, and vegetables to end the world crisis at hand, at least that's what the announcers and business chairmen on the news always told the public on TV. However, there were those that were a bit skeptical of Noygog's changed ways, and some believed that it still retained its mutagenic ways. And people would do anything to put a stop to it. By any means necessary.

One of the guards walked by, rounding a corner, as his shadow followed behind him. And once he turned the corner, his shadow remained on that side. Mysteriously moving on its own accord. The shadow then blobbed its way towards the back way, forming a blob of a head, with a white slit visor of an eye as it looked around, twisting back and forth on a think stock of black ooze for a neck. And then it stretched up in tendrils as it took shape and form, until finally, it was a whole new complete entity.

The blob had transformed into a fifteen year old Asian teenage girl, slim figure, palish blue, black short hair cut short on her right side, while on her left side was long enough to have a ponytail draped on her left shoulder, and completely nude. Though if you'd call it that, considering it looked like black ribbons were wrapped around her body, exposing only her elbows, parts of her arms and legs, her hands and feet, but not her more private regions. She dipped her hip to the right, leaning her right palm on it as she gingerly shifted her left foot about, anxiously waiting for something.

Suddenly, garbled screams could be heard behind her, as well as the sounds of wet flesh being torn apart and eaten. She looked behind her, and saw two lab doors with shadows being thrown around, beat to the ground, and finally bodies torn apart by a huge menacing shadow. Finally, something pushed through the door, gnawing on the remains of a right forearm. It was a human male, at least in appearance anyway, eight foot in height, fifty-four inch wide, heavily muscled, especially his enlarged gorilla forearms, with glyph tattoos on both shoulders and biceps, as well as the back of his bald head. He was wearing black baggy jeans and black combat boots. But the oddest things about him was that he had yellowish pale skin, bloodshot white eyes that were constantly in a trance, and his lips on both upper and lower jaw, were gone, exposing rotting yellow teeth soaked in blood and still taking a bite out of the forearm that was in his left hand, eating it like a drumstick.

Once the hulking figure was next to the girl, she reached for his pants and pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open, and spoke into it, "We're here. Security was tough, but we bit through it without a fuss."

"PROCEED WITH YOUR MISSION, INKE," a deep booming voice spoke up from the phone.

The big fellah spoke up, lightly tapping on the girl, Inke, shoulder, as she nodded, "Gotcha, Grunge." she shook the phone and spoke up impatiently, "Hello? Did you forget something of huge importance here?"

The voice on the phone huffed hugely, as it responded in annoyance, "THE FUNDING WILL BE TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR ACCOUNT. ONCE THE JOB IS COMPLETE." And the voice clicked off, as Inke closed the phone off.

She put the phone back in her companion's back pocket, and smirked, "Well, Grungy… time to go work."

The creature, Grunge, nodded, as he growled and groaned out only a few words that could only be incoherent, "Grrrr… work…"

The behemoth of what appeared to be a man, charged forward, knocking through walls. While the girl morphed into a polymorphic female shaped black blob of sorts. The blob then shot out, slithering and sliding from the floors to the walls, knocking down doors and entering restricted lab rooms. Like a living and stretching snake, she slithered and crashed through the computers, vials of chemicals, and anything else that appeared to be valuable. Her yellow gray companion kept smashing through everything, even through toxic tub canisters, that spilled their contents all over the floor. The concrete and steel floors were covered in green ooze, that ate through the floor and the support beams like they were acid. They were really going all out to trash the place as they did their best and worst to do so.

Some of the guards came rushing in with bullets flying at the two, as they stopped and shot right at them. Freaked out by what they saw, the bullets had no effect on them, as the bullets went through the black ooze creature, or didn't even kill the hulking man-eater. But it did stop them as they turned their attention, as both of them glared at the five guards with daggers in their eyes. The guards looked at the two mysterious creatures in horror, not sure of what to do in either running away or to keep firing. But the two creatures didn't give them a chance, as the black ooze entity shot at them, morphing two whip-like arms that shot out spikes on it, and whipped at the fleeing guards, slashing some of them to ribbons. The big guy just roared at them, charging at full speed and tackled the three others to the ground. Having them pinned down, he took a bite out of one of htem, tearing off half his face. The others screamed in terror at this action, but he proceeded to shove his fist through one of their stomachs, tearing them open and pulling out their still steaming guts out. And finally, the last one, he merely grabbed his head in a chokehold, and with his free hand, pulled at his upper lip… pulling the skin off his head like a hood as his gargling bloody muscled skull finally died out, and the creature began devouring the dead guards' remains.

Suddenly, the straining and groaning of the half-demolished building began to give way. The Black Ooze took form back into a humanoid blob with the white visor, and looked to her munching associate, "Grunge! Time to bail!"

She then slurrped her way over to him, wrapping around his back into a black blob backpack. The hulking fellow forgot his three guard corpse meal, and stomped in a flash out of the collapsing factory. As the building began to crumble downward, the figure raced out of the building as it smashed through one of the bolted doorways, and far away into the woods. Once they were clear, Grunge stopped in his tracks, and the blob dripped off to morph back into the pale blue skinned girl, as she landed in a crouched position and stood up, as she and her companion watched their handiwork. The building finally crumbled downward to the ground, as fire started to erupt on the crumbling debris remains of what was once a factory for one of the biggest conglomerate groups in the world.

Once the fire trucks and the cops had made their way to find any survivors and stop the burning, the two figures knew their job was completed. They went into the forest, disappearing in the middle of the night from whatever task that was meant to be done in destroying the factory facility.

* * *

**The Next Day**

**Amityville Junior High**

**Lunchtime**

As always on the day, it was another ordinary day in the high school. But today, it wasn't as ordinary as it should have been. The unexplainable disappearance of Mr. Jones, the Noygog Chemical factory, and now this morning, the death of one of the football team's star players, Victor Cystone, was nothing sort of small news to anyone at all. No one think that so much pandemonium would happen in one night. The missing janitor was being ignored, thinking he had taken a day off for some odd reason, but the mysterious murder of Mr. Cystone was being looked into. The factory however, was being ruled in as eco-terrorists going all out, but they would have to identify the bodies if that ever came in at all.

That time, during lunch, the whole gang from the Halloween store of the moment, consisted of Courtney, Justin, Alex, Lilith, and Elsa, along with Leon who was keeping his eyes on the cheerleading squad, as well as the female swimming team, just sat and had their lunch, as well as discuss latest events that may had to do with anything that was released from the book. However, it began with the usual intercom announcement,

ATTENTION STUDENTS. WE ALL MOURN FOR THE PASSING OF THE UNTIMELY DEMISE OF OUR STAR TACKLER, VICTOR CYSTONE. ON SATURDAY WE WILL BE GIVING A TOKEN SCHOOL FUNERAL IN HONOR OF MR. CYSTONE, SEEING AS HOW HIS FAMILY HAVE ALREADY MOURNED HIS LOSS, AND HAVE ALREADY LEFT TOWN.

AND ALSO AS A BIT OF GOOD NEWS AND A QUICK REMINDER, THE THANKSGIVING DANCE WILL SOON BE COMING AROUND THE CORNER, SO BE SURE TO BRING OVER A DISH OR TWO, AS WELL AS A DATE FOR THE DANCE. THIS IS PRINCIPAL MCKIBBLE SIGNING OFF.

Courtney just groaned as she hung her head near the table, almost tempting to bang it against it. "God. I can't believe they're still bugging us about some stupid dance coming up by the end of this month. Someone's dead, a corporation's factory has just been blown up, and they're still going on about some dance we'll probably have in Christmas."

Lilith looked smug at Courtney's bad attitude, while Elsa looked worried on it, as she gulped and looked to the succubus teen, "Um, is there something egging her, Lilith?"

"Oh, it's mainly because she hasn't found a date for the dance," Lilith smugly shrugged at the sight of her friend's bad attitude.

Courtney's anger got the better of her, as she slammed her clenched fist on her book, nearly scaring the others around her. In a small gesture, her sandwich started to get toasted, as a tiny spark of red flame escaped her ring's ruby gem. She growled at everyone, turning red, "For the last time: I don't care about the stupid dance."

Leon leaned towards Courtney, all dreamy at her, as he charmed out, tracing his fingers atop her hands, "Fear not, my Dark Flower. If a date is all you seek, I'd be happy to…"

"You know…" Courtney shot out, acting more grouchy than angry, "If it's possible for me, I'll burn all your fur off, and you'll just be called the Were-Chihuahua."

Leon scooted away, not wanting what Courtney was threatening, and leaned towards Justin, and whispered, "You know, I think she's still angry about you not telling her about your afternoon activity with me in the Lair."

"It's your own fault for making me swear to secrecy," Justin whispered back. But just then, the two felt a slight chill in the air as everyone around there, just shivered, as he asked, "Did the temperature just drop?"

Just then, they all felt it from under the table, as they all scooted out for a moment. There, they all looked down the table, and saw Zazie, doodling in her sketchbook. They figured that since she was part of the group, she'd sit with them like a regular person would. It was probably a habit of her looking from afar, but she always seemed to hide in the oddest of places. This day and this area was of no exception for them, with their new Snow Fairy Girl teammate.

She finally stopped doodling, and looked to everyone, a bit startled, but blushed once she saw Justin looking at her. "Oh, hello, everyone," she smiled to everyone, as she crawled out from under the table. Once she stood up, she blushed and acted shyly at Justin, "And, um… hello, Justin."

Feeling a bit nervous around the cute Snow Girl, he just waved at her, "Um, hi, Zazie. How you and your sister been?"

"Oh, just fine… Justin," she shyly remarked, turning away, smiling and blushing all over her face. "She told me the day after I joined up that she found a boy she liked a lot."

"Is she gonna try to freeze him up like you did Justin?" Courtney nonchalantly shot out, earning a couple of glares at her, until she huffed in annoyance, "Okay, sorry about that. I'm sure your sister didn't freeze anybody. I'm probably sure she and this boy she met are gonna be swell friends." And then turned away as she whispered, "Without the freezing/stalker situation."

"Actually, she's not a Snow Girl," Zazie corrected, secretly freezing some of her fruit up, making a frozen sherbet out of it, "She's a Cat Girl." everyone just looked at her with a little bit of question at that, while she remained calm about it, as she asked, "What?"

"Hey, Cor," Ivy suddenly popped up, nearly startling everyone as she nearly tackled her old friend. She looked around the group and chimed out, "Why's everyone so serious over here? There's gonna be a dance coming on sometime this Thanksgiving, and everyone's a sourpuss."

"We're not sour," Lilith shot up, nearly going chest-to-chest with this girl, despite Lilith was still an A-Cup to speak in which, "A factory just got blown up, and not to mention one fine specimen of a Greek sculpture model from the football team just got an imminent demise."

Ivy looked at the article that Justin was holding up, and merely shrugged, "I think that one death doesn't make a big deal. And those Noygog people… well, we all know about how they make their profits. The illegal and environmentally destructive kind. I think that the factory getting destroyed was for the best." It was then that she felt something vibrate in her bag, and pulled out her cell phone, and went for the exit, "Excuse me, I gotta take this call." And walked right out of there, going outside of the building to take the call.

Courtney then took notice of everyone around her, giving her a concerned look on all their faces. Well, it was more of a look that read something along the lines of dislike and disapproval. So, finally getting fed up, Courtney shouted out, "What?"

"Okay, okay, Courtney. I'm only speaking around everyone, and I'm only speaking up because I'm slightly more of a better BFF than your former first one who just walked out," Lilith put her hands up in defense, as she did her best to calm the Flame Wiccan in training out. Then finally, after a big huff of air, she came out with it, "Ivy's a bad seed."

Courtney was taken back by that, as she looked at them like they had lost their minds, "Okay, you're all being silly. I know she seems a bit obsessive and heartless at times, but she and I… we're like two peas in a pod. And I know she's a bit hard to deal with…"

"Try a lot," Alex added in, as he cleaned his glasses, "I was doing a scoop on Mr. Takner's drinking scotch in the teacher's lounge, when I caught her threatening one of the football players who tried to hit on her with a knife, saying she'd and I quote, 'Put your Two Best Friends in a Paper Cup', and I'm not talking about the buddies he hangs out at the Sports Store."

Leon nodded, "That, and she's a bit extreme on her pro-active environmental petitions. Last week, she shoved sugar down the chem teacher's gas tank. Luckily, the teacher was already coming before there was even enough to do some permanent damage."

"Okay, okay, I admit she has a few roughspots here and there," Courtney did her best to defend her friend's reputation, "But believe me, she was a bit worse back then; she could have gone to juvie, if I hadn't had met her. Way back then, she used to go shoplifting…"

"Still does," Elsa poked in, looking a bit uneasy, as everyone looked at her, even Courtney who seemed a bit offended by that, as she explained. "A few days ago, After Zazie joined up, one of the security cameras caught her, stealing one of the Wiccan charms. A silver necklace with a Goth rose and an emerald centered in it. I wanted to report it to John, but I…"

"She's not a thief, nor a bad seed," Courtney shot back, looking angered at these accusations, "I've known Ivy nearly most of my life; I can't believe she'd do stuff like that behind my back."

Justin and Leon looked to each other, as did everyone else, and then back to her, as Justin, sympathetically, pointed out, "Did you really know her? Courtney, I know you care a lot about her, but from what we've all seen…"

"SHE'S NOT A BAD SEED!" She shouted angrily, shooting up from her seat, taking her book bag and glared at everyone, "I know her! She doesn't keep secrets from me!" She then glared at Justin, as she shot out, "Unlike some people." And stomped on outside, leaving everyone to question what they thought about what was said.

Everyone was silent at all that, until Alex put his glasses on and mumbled, "That could have gone better."

* * *

**Outside**

Courtney was just too much in a huff, as she stormed outside the school. In fact, she was so angry, that she bumped into the girl that was everyone's topic. She and Ivy stumbled a bit, as both got their bearings. Once they were back upright, Courtney apologized, "Sorry about that, Iv."

"Nah, it's okay, Cor," Ivy shrugged it off, and looked at her phone to see if she was still connected. She sighed in relief, "Awesome, didn't lose reception." She looked to Courtney as she explained, "Sorry about this, but I kinda need to stay in touch. Important gathering of the minds tonight."

"Awesome," Courtney shrugged, "Mind if I tag along tonight? I'm free."

"Well, not tonight, Cor. Sorry," she apologized, "Its kind of a sight excavation; I'm trying to get the layout on the Noygog Chemical Plant sight. Planning the next petition on no mutating plant life."

"You sure you don't want me to tag along," Courtney asked, looking concerned as she explained, "I mean, since their last place got attacked, they're gonna have a whole lot of security to protect one building. I seriously doubt…"

"No sweat, Cor," Ivy reassured her, "I'm already on the phone with two associates of mine. They scouted the last place so I could do my petition on that one. But ever since the bombing, well… I just have high hopes I'll at least have a few riots going at this place."

Courtney nodded at it, and started to walk off, but stopped as she called out, looking concerned once again, "Ivy?"

"Yeah?"

She didn't know how to put it well enough, and she shouldn't bring it up. But what her friends had told her, she sighed, and asked it anyway, "Back before I met you, you were kind of a wild card. A fanatic, in some ways."

"Yeah, what's your point, Cor?" Ivy asked, not sure where this was going.

"You're not doing anything that people would start calling you a bad seed?" Courtney finally asked out, looking worried, "Are you?"

Ivy seemed a bit calm about the question, but shrugged at it and smiled, "C'mon, Cor. Those were the old days; when you came along, you straightened me out. It's a whole new me."

Feeling slightly better, the secret Flame Wiccan nodded, a bit hesitantly, and nervously smiled, "O-Okay. I just wanted to be sure. Well, see ya." And Courtney walked off to go to her next class.

Ivy watched as Courtney walked off towards the door, and opened it as she stepped in to go to her next class. Once she saw that she was gone, she returned to her phone. "Okay, you two, listen up…" Ivy spoke up to her phone.

* * *

**Elsewhere**

At the other end of the line, elsewhere in a darkened room… the two assailant monsters, Inke and Grunge, both stood at a speaker phone, as the same words that Ivy spoke up, was deepened to a male's tone, unknown to the two monsters as she finished, "OKAY, YOU TWO, LISTEN UP: I HAVE TONIGHT'S PLAN UP. I WANT YOU BOTH TO DESTROY THE NOYGOG CHEMICAL RESEARCH CENTER OUTSIDE OF TOWN. IT'S DESTRUCTION IS A MUST."

* * *

**After School**

**Stranger's Halloween Store**

"A zombie," Stranger pointed out, as he was sitting down, reading through what appeared to be a comic book: the Walking Dead.

After the school day was over, the teens immediately went over to the Halloween Store to see if there was anything new that popped up. Well, it was mostly Justin that had convinced everyone to come to the store, even if Courtney was still a bit steamed off around everyone. Including being steamed at Justin, considering he was still keeping a secret as to where he usually went off to along with Leon. But this time, they all went over and walked into the library to have a usual meet and greet. And mostly for Alex and Lilith to get together and make the group uniforms, for which anyone could care less considering they thought it be pretty stupid to go around in something they could easily get spotted in. but that's when Stranger, who was sitting down at the moment, blurted out the word Zombie.

"I'm sorry, a zombie?" Courtney asked as she put the Book of Goosebumps down for a moment, as Oogie propped his tails up as a sort of chair for him to sit in, as she asked, "What's a zombie got to do…?"

"It's what caused the factory's destruction last night, along with something else," Stranger answered as he skimmed through the book he was reading, not taking his eyes off it as he went on, "I have reliable sources that pointed out the attacks that killed the guards were quick, primitive, and extremely slow and painful for the unfortunate guards that were attacked by them." He then turned the page as he finished, just shrugging off anything else, "That and the bodies, or what was left of them, looked like they had been eaten alive, with some of the limbs looking like they had been gnawed at, or some organs eaten, or…"

"Stranger! Please! We don't need to know the rest," Oogie cringed as he held his stomach. As he held it in, he sighed in relief, "Zombies, man. They creep even guys like me out."

"Wait, are we talking about _The_ Undead here?" Justin asked, feeling a little worried.

Lilith reassured them all, as she didn't seem too freaked out on it, "Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid about zombies. They're perfectly harmless."

"Harmless?" Courtney asked, being very incredulous on the subject, "We're talking about zombies here. They're the Walking Undead that feed on the Flesh of the Living. Us. And when we get bit, we become one of them!"

"Read page 1,987," Stranger confirmed.

Courtney took the Book and flipped through the pages, until finally she came upon the page in detail. There, several illustrations of zombies came to light; those that were of Voodoo practice, and those rising from the grave with a vat of toxic waste dumped into the soil. With a better visual representation, she skimmed through, and found the notes, as she read aloud, "According to the tenets of Vodou, a zombie is an dead person that can be revived by a bokor, or sorcerer. Zombies are undead creatures regularly encountered in ghost towns, or graveyards that are infected by an unknown viral component. They were once typically depicted as mindless, reanimated corpses with a hunger for human flesh, and in some cases, human brains in particular. Although they share their name and some superficial similarities with the zombie from Hatain Vodun, their links to such folklore are unclear. But by time and much domestication that traveled genetically through the viral infection caused by the bite of the Undead zombies, the subject has retained much intelligence, that they behave like normal sentient-based monsters, able to cohabit with the world around them, than acting as a mindless wlaking corpse, and a will of their own. As time goes on, the slow pace of these creatures have evolved as the tendons and ligaments grow tighter, enabling these creatures to be faster and stronger than expected. But their greatest strengths are that they are able to use severed limbs as weapons and still reattach them to their bodies, including their head so long as the brain still remains attached or unharmed."

"I think we get the picture," Alex sighed as he made a gun sign with his hand, pointing it to his head, "Shoot'em in the head; that's the trick."

"And try not to get bitten by them," Leon advised.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on," Justin pointed out, as he got out from his seat, "If this is a zombie, and I'm not sure if it is. And if we get bitten by one of these things, we're gonna have to do the other in."

"Oh, that's no problem, Justin," Elsa reassured as she looked to everyone and explained, "Most people think zombie bites are incurable. A long time ago, Malarian scientists discovered something pretty handy. Only one thing can stop and/or cure a zombie bite. Lemon juice."

"Lemon Juice?" both Alex and Justin asked, seeing as how they were the only normal humans with no knowledge of this stuff.

"It is the only known cure," Elsa explained, "In an analysis, it showed that lemon juice burns and kills a zombie immediately and effectively. One squirt of the stuff on a zombie bite in a wound will cure a human of his/her infection."

They all looked to Courtney, who skimmed the page, and nodded to everyone else, "It's true. Lemon juice and all. It also says that Salt's a pretty good purifying effect on them, making it a pretty good repeller on them."

With that knowledge, Justin seemed to go into a deep thought on it, with Leon taking notice on it. "Got an idea on something there," Leon asked, itching to know what was on Justin's mind now.

"Well, with this knowledge in play, we still don't know when or what they're after," Lilith shot out. "Or even what the guy looks like?"

"Why not go to the morgue," Zazie asked… from under the table, startling everyone, minus Stranger, as they looked under. "If the guards were bit, then what's left of them will turn into one of them. Right?"

They all looked to each other, seeing if anyone would step up with knowledge on what to do for that, until Stranger closed his book, and grabbed his cane. Standing up, he calmly replied, "To the Morgue."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Bad Flower Need Pruning pt. 3**


	23. Don't Go Under the Basement pt5

**Goosebumps Adventure**

* * *

**Chapter 22: Don't Go Under the Basement; Bad Flower Need Pruning pt. 3**

* * *

**Later That Night**

**Amityville City Morgue**

The room was clean and sanitary, as well as bright. Operating tables were cleaned and the lights shown. On one tray, operating equipment was placed neatly and organized; both electrical and tool. On one of the tables, a freshly delivered corpse of a male and female were placed side by side, as one of the coroners was operating on the male. The coroner was thin, in hospital attire, as well as gloves, Caucasian, short brown hair, but oddly enough his skin seemed pale with a few puss-filled zits, and a milky white to his eyes. He was currently opening up the chest cavity, while another orderly was on a cell phone in the room. He was dressed in hospital attire, a bit bulky, Caucasian, but also had pale skin, a few zits, but only one eye was milky white.

"Yeah, uh-huh. I gotcha," the fat one stated as he nodded in agreement, and then looked to his companion, "George, we're gonna need an order on the kidneys and lungs."

"Got it, Zack," George nodded, but then asked, "Any interest in limbs for a medium sized middle aged man yet?"

George shook his head, "Nuthin' yet." But just then, they heard the doors open, and George turned away to the door, shooting out, "Hey, no civilians back here! You can't just barge in without…" he stopped however, as he saw who strode in, and seemed to recognize his face, "Oh, John, it's you." Indeed it was John Stranger, as he came in along with Courtney, Justin, Leon, Lilith, and even Alex and Oogie.

The fellow walked over and extended his hand in a friendly handshake, as Stranger accepted it. "Look at ya. Hitting the age of eighty and still kickin' like a forty year old." George then pointed out to the kids, "Aside from Elsa, I see you wrangled in some new blood."

"I never wrangled anyone, George," Stranger calmly stated as he stopped, leaning on his cane in front, "They each came in on their own free accord."

Courtney looked at the two, and asked, "Um, Stranger, you know these guys? And… how do they know you?"

"I helped them back a while ago, about thirty years ago…" Stranger answered. "… After they died."

Courtney and the others nearly paled at this information, until Justin asked pointing to them, "You mean, they're… zombies?"

"Hey, that term's a little condescending," Zack shot out, as he pointed to George and himself. "We prefer the Undead, Walkers, or maybe the occasional, um…"

"Don't mind him; the whole Zombie term's a bit touchy with him," George defended, and got down to business, "I take it this isn't a social visit, John?"

"Not quite," Stranger asked as he pointed his cane at the Morgue storage fridges, "We heard you had some recent deaths come in for autopsy."

"Okay, cut to the chase," Alex stepped forward, his camera at the waiting, "Were they zombie attacks?"

Zack shot his hands up in defensive shielding, as he defended, "Hey, man! We're clean! We didn't bite no one!"

George even defended, "Yeah, we're not like those flesh eaters. We're a bit more civilized than that. But as for them: think Mike Tysen after you made fun of his lisp and that tribal tattoo he's got. Basically: the flesh eaters are mindless, ripped with some of their bones and insides showing, shredded, and with a major attitude to match with no brains."

"That's the only way we can fit in with the Living anymore," Zack explained. "We don't attack and eat them, they don't sever our brain stems. We're on a straight diet of grubs, roaches, and nightcrawlers."

At hearing that, both Courtney and Lilith nearly gagged at that notion, until Elsa commented, "Oh, come on, you two. It's better than having them snack on people."

"We never said it was anyone here," Justin defended, as he explained, "We were hoping to check one of the bodies. In case it was a zombie attack, they'd come back to life and tell us who did it." But then awkwardly scratched his head as he mumbled, "If he/she's a talker like you guys."

"Do you have a Mister Victor Cystone arrive here," Stranger asked.

The two looked to one another, and Zack nodded, "Yeah, he just arrived this afternoon." The two then led everyone over as they reached one of the freezers. "It was pretty evident that the kid was a zombie victim, what with the torn stomach that was seen on him when we examined and patched him up. Not to mention around the fact that his long and small intestines had been pulled out and gnawed out." They pulled the door open and brought out the corpse laid on the table.

There, lying on the table was the corpse of a teenage boy, appeared to be the age of eighteen. His frame was large and very muscular; the body frame of a teenage body builder being trained by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was African American, dark black, with no hair, and brown eyes; a look on his face saying 'It's Smack-Down Time'. He was dressed in nothing, except for the tarp from feet to shoulders.

Zack pointed out, "I gotta tell ya, this guy really knew how to take care of himself. Skin's as soft like a lady's, and not an ounce of fat to drain outta him." He looked to any of the kids, as he casually quizzed, "Was he a Vegan?"

Stranger pulled the tarp up a bit, just enough to examine the wound, and lightly shook his head, "It was definitely a zombie."

"Yeah, but here's the real kicker," George pointed to the wound with a pencil, "These bite marks… I've seen them on other bodies. But most of them were from security guards, lab heads, and business suits. All workin' for some corporation called Noygog Chemicals."

Elsa looked surprised at that, and then to Courtney, as she asked, "Courtney? Isn't Ivy scouting out locations for boycott groups for Noygog? What if they attack there again and she's…"

"That won't happen," she quietly objected, knowing full well they would stop this. But her attention was drawn to someone else at the moment. Leon looked at the boy with a quiet respect for him, as Courtney noticed but didn't say until she asked, "An old friend of yours? Not just a teammate?"

He nodded, "Vic and I were sort of each other's backup. He was the muscle and I was the speed. But… we were pretty tight, way before I patched things up with Justin."

"Not tight with me or Justin here," Alex confessed as he shivered, "Whenever anyone wasn't looking, he always gave us wedgies, stuffed us in the toilets head first for swirlies. I'm not gonna miss him at all."

"No love for enemies, eh," Oogie confessed a guess. But then he looked at the body, and asked, "Hey… was he missing an arm?"

The two zombie coroners looked at the body, and then noticed the boy's left arm was missing. George nodded, "Yeah, about that. Well, we were pretty much betting whether or not he was gonna be a Walker. But we got impatient, and Bob from downtown needed some new…"

"AAAAAAAH!" Victor screamed aloud, his eyes wide open, and shot up, the sheet sliding down to his lap, exposing his chest.

Everyone jumped back at that, nearly startled, except for John, George, and Zack who were more calm about this situation of a dead boy coming back to life. Zack smirked as he held his hand out in front of his friend, "Ha! He's a Walker. You owe me five bucks."

The others were a bit skittish about Victor's rising, not sure if he was going to attack or not. Finally, Victor looked around, taking the surroundings of where he was now. Taking deep breaths until his breathing slowed a bit, he finally looked at those around him, and immediately spotted Leon. He cocked his eyebrow in confusion, until he finally asked, "Leon? What… Where am I?" Leon and everyone were a bit quiet, not sure as to how to answer his question. However, Victor finally took notice of his missing left arm, as he grabbed the empty area, and screamed out hysterically, "WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO MY ARM?" He looked around, frantically crying out, "WHERE THE HECK AM I? WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY AM I HERE?"

Leon swallowed for a moment, and asked quickly, "Do you want the good news or the bad?"

Victor stuttered for a moment, as he tried to process an answer, "Um, uh… Good? No, Bad! Bad. I want the bad news first."

Finally, after much thought-processing, Leon cleared his throat, and finally answered, "Um, Victor… I'm not sure how to lightly say this, so I'm just gonna throw it straight to you: you're dead."

"Well, more like the Walking Dead," Justin clarified. "Okay, Walking Dead in general."

Taking a moment to sink in, or rather just go into deniability, Victor sighed out, nodding his head, "Oh. Is that all?"

"That's the bad news for you," Stranger comforted the boy as best he could, "The good news is this: the new life is manageable."

"Look at it this way, Kiddo," George walked up to advise him on the new lifestyle, "Your tendons have gotten tighter, meaning you'll jump higher, run faster. Muscles have loosened up, making you stronger. You won't even feel pain if you get shot or hit by a car." But he pointed to his noggin as he replied, "Just make sure that if they do go for the head, and make sure they don't hit your computer. Anywhere below the jaw, that's okay; just don't let them destroy your brain. If they get a lucky shot there, you'll be All Dead. And All Dead, there's only two things to do."

Alex stepped forward, and asked, "And what's that?"

"Go through his clothes, and look for loose change," George finished.

"That's all very well informative, but there's something that hasn't been answered." Victor's calm then went into hysterical stammering gasps, and then into a frenzied panic, as he pointed to the bandaged empty socket that would have been his left arm, "JUST WHERE THE HECK IS MY ARM?"

The kids, boogie monster, and Stranger all looked to the two zombies for an answer at that. But the two only shrugged and casually answered, "Big Bob's."

* * *

**Big Bob's Body Shop**

The area they had gone to in the Cerberus appeared to have been located near the town dump. It was an old car parts store, built near the far side of the dump itself, where no one would be the wiser to go looking around. The place seemed brand new, with trash dumpster trucks cruising back and forth, parking back into the loading dock of the warehouse building. The place was bustling over with people driving in, and the place was littered with signs showing good prices and deal breakers for anyone purchasing anything by. All in all it seemed like a pretty good business, nothing out of the ordinary, except it was open late at night and located in a non-urban area for anyone to just notice firsthand.

Once the Cerberus was parked, everyone got out to investigate. As they got out of the Cerberus, Alex looked at the place, and asked Stranger, "What are we doing at a Body Shop all the way out of town?"

Stranger leaned on his cane before leading the way, "Seeing an old informant of ours."

But Leon was the last to get out, as he was still comforting a still freaking out Victor, "Look, just stay here, and we'll be back to get your arm, Vic. Okay?"

"This is a car parts store," Victor pointed out, and then hysterically shouted, "I DON'T THINK THEY'RE IN THE BUSINESS FOR FINDING MISSING LIMBS!"

"Trust me, you'd be surprised what they really sell here," Leon answered, as he closed the door before his undead football teammate could reply back. He walked back with the others, as he groaned, "I think he's taking this all well."

Courtney shrugged, "More than we ever did." As they entered the body shop, Courtney became even more paler than usual, as she gulped, "I take that back. I'm still taking it in."

What the others saw was nearly too good to be terrifyingly obvious as well as disgusting. All over the place, on shelves and tables, fresh and used body parts were there on display with prices next to them. Heads, hands, legs, arms, even spare organs were all in fresh out, in jars, and even in ice boxes to keep them fresh were all in display to be seen. And all around the area, zombies were examining them; almost trying a few on like someone was trying on new clothing or shoes. In truth, this was the most disturbing thing the kids, Courtney, Justin, and Alex, had ever seen in their lives.

Alex gulped, and held his camera up, making small pictures as he silently asked, "Um, what's this place? I thought it was a parts store."

"It is. A parts store for zombies," Stranger explained as they continued on, "Whenever a zombie loses or has a limb rot off, they go to a place like this to find replacement parts."

"There are places like this all around the world," Justin gulped.

"Only around darkened and damp areas, like Maine, New York, Louisiana… anywhere that monsters or the dead can fit in around human society," Stranger answered, as they walked past a spare brain shelf. "Without proper care or embalming procedures, a zombie will rot fast." He pointed all around the place, "Think of it all like recycling."

Courtney watched them, as she and the others passed on by, and she asked, "And… where do they get the spares?"

They turned and saw a garage door open as a loud beeping horn was going off. It was a garbage truck backing up near the open garage door, as two zombie cleanup crew workers were standing by with brooms, shovels, and freezing coolers at the ready. Once the truck stopped, the back door opened, and the truck's back tipped upward, allowing the contents to dump out on the floor. And what was lying on the floor were black body bags, as well as freshly amputated body parts, freshly frozen and cut ready for zombies to take for their own. Needless to say, the sight would have made any normal person throw up, or cringe in fear or disgust at the mere sight.

Courtney gulped and paled more, as she mumbled, "Forget I ever asked."

As the workers were cleaning up the body parts to be sorted out, the kids and Stranger just walked by to go to where they were going at the moment: the Boss's Office. Once they got to the door, they saw a fat Caucasian man with a Curly Stooge hairstyle and dressed in a tacky yellow suit. They could tell he was the boss due to his attitude on the phone, as he was talking business.

"No! you don't pick them out of the bayou! They're as fresh as your mom's…" the boss shouted on the phone, as he turned in his chair. And came in visual contact with Stranger, as his anger disappeared, as he casually greeted an old friend/associate, "I'll have to put you on hold," he replied as he hung up, and smirked, "Johnny! You look good. It's been, what? Thirty, forty years since I saw you?"

"Thirty-five years, Big Bob," Elsa answered for him.

"Elsa, you little minx," the man or zombie identified as Big Bob smirked, "I see you're doin' fine as well. Haven't aged a day. Literally."

She nodded, and casually asked, "So how's the Body Shop business doing?"

He shrugged, "Ah, can't complain. A few limbs here, some organs there. But business is boomin's now that I've gotten my website open for email deliveries." He pointed to the computer as he smirked, "God, I love the internet." But he leaned back in his chair as he asked, "But I take it you're not here to discuss old times, right? Business? I mean, ever since word got out that your book was unlocked, all Nine Circles of Hell have broken loose. So to speak."

"A case, and mostly business," Stranger pointed out, "We have a client who's missing a left arm. He's most likely still in the back of the supped up truck outside the parking lot."

"I'll get Hunchy to bring him in the back and see what we got for him," Bob replied, as he picked up a phone and shouted, "HUNCHY! WE GOT A NEW WALKER OUT IN THE FREAKY TRUCK OUT THERE! HE NEEDS A NEW LEFT ARM!" And hung up immediately, but before he went back to business, he eyed Courtney, Justin, Alex, and even Lilith, as he pointed out, "Gotta admit, Johnny Boy, when you recruit new blood, you do a damn good job at it. They got some nice parts on them."

"Bob," Stranger interrupted, as the kids backed away for a moment, "The case. Allow me to give you the details."

After a while explaining to Bob about the cases of corpses being eaten in half, as well as the description of the bite marks. For a while the zombie boss was quiet, until after a few minutes of thought, he snapped his rotting fingers as he pointed, "Oh yeah, the guy you're talkin' about sounds like Grunge."

Lilith asked, "Grunge?"

"Yeah, he's one of them old-fashioned Voodoo zombies, but rumor has it he was enhanced with some fancy-shmansy virus that beefed him up a bit. A real dirt bag flesh eater that one. Guy's as built as a tank; probably could flatten one out if he could." He pulled out an old photograph of the creature, allowing the others to get a good look at him, but with the creature, riding on his shoulder, was the girl with him now. "A few years back, he teamed up with this Asian monster dame; calls herself Inke."

"Inke, huh," Courtney asked, examining her with detail to remember what she looked like, but asked, "What is she?"

"From what I've heard, she's the result of some mutagenic experiment that escaped from some Slime Monster-obsessed whacko from Malaria," Bob answered, giving what he knew. "Anyway, once they teamed up, they started workin' as a couple of mercenary/assassin/thugs for hire. They'll take any job as long as they get paid; doesn't matter what they do, so long as they get paid."

"What happens when they don't get paid," Lilith asked, not liking the answer to come.

Bob shrugged as he replied, "If they don't get paid by their employer, it's their employer whose gonna pay. Big time."

Stranger nodded, as he looked to the others to take leave, "Thank you for your help, Bob. Keep your ears open if you hear anything about this duo popping up." He then pointed to Leon, who looked like he was about to throw up, "Besides, we really need to be quick. Leon's getting nauseated from all this decaying flesh."

Oogie gulped of that sight, as he grumbled, "Guess it doesn't pay at times to have a sharp nose."

"Take care," Bob stated, as they started to leave, but stopped Courtney, "Hey, you. Living Dead Girl."

Courtney stopped and turned to face him, "What is it?"

"As the new guardian to the Book of Goosebumps, here's some good advice: Guard that Book with your life," Bob advised, "Not only is the fate of the Living tied to that book, but so is the fate of the undead and all of Monsterdum."

For a moment, Courtney remained silent, until she nodded, "I'll, um… I'll keep that in mind." And walked right out of there.

* * *

**Super Market**

After they had left Big Bob's, they had immediately gone back into town. But now they had to make a stop at the super market to pick something up. Seeing as how now that Victor was among the Walking Dead, he was new to all this and still in denial on it. As such, Stranger decided to have the boy stay over at the Halloween Store as his new home. But if he was gonna stay there in the shop with the others, he was gonna need some things. As they came in, Victor was sitting in the shopping cart, dressed in blue jeans and a red shirt, to hide the bleeding wound that had not yet healed up. He was out for a moment, until finally, he woke up.

Groggy at first, he struggled to straighten up, as he finally asked, "Ugh, wha? What happened?"

"Oh, you're awake. Cool," Leon smirked, as he pushed the cart, while Courtney grabbed some stuff.

From the looks of it, they were in the kitchen/bathroom cleaning supply aisle. Victor looked around, asking, "Why are we in a convenient store?" He then sniffed all around, his nose catching a whiff of something awful, as he cringed, "Oh, Man! What's that smell?"

"That would be you," Justin replied, walking alongside Leon to guard his back.

Victor shook his head, trying to clear up his head, until his eyes spotted a new sight that put him in panic mode again. "AAAAAH! WHAT'S WRONG WITH MY ARM," he shouted, as he lifted his newly acquired new arm. The reason why he freaked out was that his arm wasn't African American, it was Puerto Rican, with a black tattoo of a bull's head on the bicep, and a gold ring on the ring finger.

Justin pointed out, "Yeah, about that. They were out of African Americans in your size and build."

Alex nodded as he cleaned his camera's lens, "Big Bob said you're a rare body shop specimen. He was lucky to find anyone with a build and size like yours."

"Oh, out of my size and build… ARE YOU ALL INSANE," Victor shouted, pointing his arm, "I'm African American here; I'm not Puerto Rican. AND I'M NOT MARRIED!"

"Victor, you're a zombie! Deal with it," Courtney shot out, getting the undead football player's attention. "Now pay attention," she began as she placed in the zombie's lap a few cleaning supplies, pointing to each one and explaining the function for either one of them, "Floor cleaner is your new deodorant, Wisk takes the place of soap or body wash, Green Cleaner will help prevent your eyes from going yellow so I'd take care of that like eye drops daily, bleach is for your teeth, and finally Soft Scrub is for when you need to exfoliate." She got some stares from Victor, as well as Justin and Alex, as she shrugged, "According to the Book, that's the beauty regiment for a zombie." She then turned sharply, waving her finger at Victor as she advised, "You may be embalmed but do not… I repeat: Do. Not. Take a day off from this, or you'll be smelling like my brother's underwear."

Oogie poked up on her shoulder, and pointed out, "And trust me, you don't wanna be smelling like that. I would know, I got stuck in the laundry one night and took a whiff at them after he had a soccer game finished. Whoo Hoo! Kid's undies stank from high heaven, I'll tell ya that!"

Victor looked at them all, as they were heading for the cashier, all confused. Until finally, he shouted out in laugher, pointing at Leon, "AHAHAHAA! You're a funny guy, Leon. Really, I knew you had a funny bone in you. But this…" He pointed to Oogie as he nodded, "Awesome puppet word, Keller. What'd you get him from? Muppets that didn't make it from Jim Hensen?"

Oogie shook his head as he grumbled, "This joker's still in denial."

As they turned the curve, Victor spotted a free samples plate, "Oh man, I'm starving." And grabbed it, eating them one by one.

Both Leon and Courtney paled at this, as Leon pointed, "Um, you really shouldn't eat human food now."

"Seriously, you shouldn't," Courtney advised as she explained, "Your digestive system's dead now, so you really can't…"

"I'm already eating this; it's delicious, so I know you're all punking me, so…" Victor replied, still eating the plate, but then stopped. Everyone heard it as they came to the cashier's register; Victor's stomach started growling from the food. It was a small rumble at first, but then it built up to a large growl and rather violently at that. Victor's face contorted to a pained nauseated look, as he stammered, "Oh, boy…"

Courtney grabbed a plastic bag, and gave it to him. Once he had it, he unleashed out the most wretched retching scene anyone ever took witness to that day. Once they were outside, Courtney had explained to the others what had happened back in there, after they purchased their cleaning items. After Victor had felt a bit better, Elsa walked towards an old rusty dumpster, and kicked it hard in a fully rusted corner. Then suddenly, spewing out of the dumpster's new hole like a waterfall, a glob of grubs, maggots, and worms squirmed around. The whole scene made Victor want to barf up his stomach again.

Elsa walked back and pointed to the pile, "That… is your new diet plan."

Everyone who was used to this sort of thing looked to Victor, who wasn't looking so hot at the moment. He stared at the pile for a moment, until finally, he sighed, covering his face with his hands, groaning, "Oh God, please wake me up. I'm done with this nightmare…"

SHNITK!

Victor stumbled back as he stopped for a moment, and looked around as he saw a silver steak in his back. And Courtney was holding on to it as she pulled it out, with Victor shouting out, "AAGH! WHAT THE! ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND, LADY?" But he stopped for a moment, feeling the wound on his back, pulling it back and instead of runny blood, there was sticky gelatinous blood gone coagulated. He raised an eyebrow as he stated the obvious, "My blood's… coagulated? And that didn't even hurt. Not at all…"

"You get it now, Cystone? You're a freakin' zombie, a walking corpse, the Undead from George A. Romero," Courtney finally shouted, getting fed up with the zombie jock's pity party!" she had finally calmed down long enough at the moment, and looked to Victor sympathetically, "Look. I can imagine what this might feel like to you. What with waking up as one of the Undead; a monster in a world full of humans that'll probably try to kill you…"

Victor just laughed out scoffing at her and everyone else, not wanting any comfort, or at least believe that they could ever understand, "Oh, really? You can understand? That's a laugh, in fact that's the decent joke I've had since I just found out, I'M A WALKING PILE OF ROTTING TRASH!"

"Did anyone bother telling him," a familiar voice asked, getting everyone's attention. They all jumped in surprise, as they saw that it was Zazie, hiding in the dumpster, doing one of her famous disappearing/reappearing tricks. But ignoring the banana peel hanging on her head, she jumped out and asked, "Has anyone actually revealed how we understand what he's going through? I think it'd help him out a bit better if he knew."

Everyone, minus Stranger who was waiting in the van patiently but watched them all the same, looked to one another for an easy answer to that solution. But they all knew that there was no other answer to it, and that they had to get Victor to take this new life easy. So they all nodded in agreement, and stood apart from one another. And much to Victor's surprise, they all transformed in front of his eyes. Courtney started off allowing her Wiccan charms to glow, as well as her left eye with a flame tip, and her flames became aflame. Justin's Kinsmir armor activated, as his hair turned white, as well as his eyes became yellow and his fangs grew out. Lilith shot her wings out, as well as her tail and head wing ears. Zazie's hands were encased in ice claws, as her hair changed to boot. Elsa's transformation occurred as well, as most of her components appeared. Leon was the last one, as he took a bit of Locoweed and swallowed it, afterwards, he grew in height and shredded off his human form, allowing his werewolf form in place. At first, Victor was going down in denial city, but now truly, seeing was believing, or believing was seeing.

Victor pointed at all of them, with his jaw hanging down, "You guys… are all… monsters?"

"You wouldn't expect that from people like us, would you," Lilith smirked, putting her hands on her hips.

And the now zombified Victor looked to Leon, who was now at least seven feet tall and covered in fur, and pointed out, "So… I'm guessin' this was the reason why you had to go away fro three years, right?"

Leon nodded, and muzzled out, "There's a whole lot to explain right now, and it's more than just zombies."

* * *

**Next Chapter: Don't Go Under the Basement; Frienship's Like a Rose pt. 4**


End file.
